Changes afoot for Tas hospitals: premier

Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman says reform is under way to try and prevent future instances of patients outnumbering hospital emergency department beds.

The state's nursing union has called on the government for more staff funding to open more beds after the Royal Hobart Hospital on Thursday struggled to cope with the number of people turning up in need of care.

Mr Hodgman didn't back away from the problem and said that since his government came to power in 2014 it has been investing to create a more integrated health system.

"We have got to manage a strained health system, importantly also reform it," he said on Friday.

"At the Royal Hobart Hospital we are working very closely with management to ensure the system is working as well as it can."