Labor’s Ella Haddad condemns surgery cancellations

A record number of elective surgeries were cancelled in August, new data has revealed. Meanwhile the elective surgery waitlist continues to rise. Here’s what else the numbers revealed.

The Royal Hobart Hospital.

A record number of elective surgeries were cancelled in August, Labor says.

Labor’s health spokeswoman Ella Haddad said Tasmanian Health Dashboard data showed that during August, Tasmanian hospitals were forced to cancel 338 elective surgeries — reaching a new record high for the fifth month in a row.

There are now 8,329 people on the elective surgery waitlist, up 682 from this time last year.

“Two hundred less patients were admitted for surgery from the waitlist this month and with the Liberal minority government in charge, it’s only set to get worse for Tasmanian patients,” Ms Haddad said.

“The most savage cuts across this whole budget are going to be felt by the health department.

“The health department is going to have to find $600m of budget cuts over the next four years.

Labor MP Ella Haddad speaks to the media at Parliament Square in Hobart on Monday, September 30, 2024.

“It is unquestionable that budget cuts of this magnitude are inevitably going to impact service delivery, and patient care.

“Cutting ‘backline’ positions and support staff is only going to make it harder for hospitals to deliver elective surgeries and Tasmanians will be forced to wait even longer to receive the treatment they need.

“The Liberals have blown the budget, and now Tasmanians waiting for surgery are going to pay the price.”

The health dashboard also revealed there are 57,907 people on the outpatient waiting list, 13,790 on the oral health waiting list and the average time for an ambulance remained above 15 minutes.

A government spokesman said Labor was focusing on bad news only.

“Labor might want to ignore it but our significant funding commitment has delivered record volumes of elective surgery for two years running,” he said.

“The waitlist has reduced by more than 4,000 since its peak in January 2021, despite increasing demand.

“Our dedicated doctors, nurses and health professionals work tirelessly to deliver these strong results, and are backed in by record funding to ensure they have the tools they need to continue this progress.”

Originally published as Labor’s Ella Haddad condemns surgery cancellations