A man who was bleeding after surgery in a Tasmanian hospital had to call the triple-0 emergency number for help when he could not raise nurses.

The man woke from surgery in the Hobart Private Hospital to find he was bleeding from a wound drain.

After no-one responded to the nurse call bell or a phone call to the nurses' station, the patient resorted to calling the emergency number.

The hospital said the situation was unavoidable and occurred at a time when all nurses were busy with other patients.

The hospital has since moved high-dependency patients to another area.

The man took his case to the Tasmania's Health Complaints Commission which has recorded a 30 per cent increase in the number of complaints against health services.

The commission dealt with 243 complaints last financial year, mostly involving treatment, a lack of communication, difficult access and long waiting times.