Editorial: Elective surgery funding boost welcome, but is it enough?

The government will provide an essential funding boost for elective surgeries in Thursday’s state budget, but will it be enough, asks Jenna Cairney.

THE SORRY state of Tasmania’s healthcare system is an issue we’ve known about for long before phrases such as “flatten the curve” or “social distancing” became part of our everyday vernacular.

Indeed, the state government admitted as much back in February, before Tasmania even recorded its first coronavirus case, when newly-minted Premier Peter Gutwein said he would pump an extra $600 million into the state’s ailing health system over the coming four years.

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Before the deadly virus first hit Australian shores, more than 11,000 Tasmanians were waiting for elective surgeries.

At the end of June — which is the most up-to-date figure available — 11,342 people were on the waiting list.

Of those, 923 were considered to be the most urgent and category 1 (recommended to be treated within 30 days), and 4016 were deemed semi-urgent (category 2) and recommended to be treated within 90 days.

Based on upward trends pre-COVID, and the impact COVID has had, the 11,342-long list could now be much longer.

The elective surgery waiting list is just one performance measure for our healthcare system, but it’s an important one. Because it’s not just numbers, this is real people who are in need of medical help.

In Thursday’s state budget, the government will provide a $45 million funding boost, which will deliver an estimated 8500 additional elective surgeries.

It’s an essential spend. The question, as always, is whether or not it’ll be enough.

And in a year when Premier Peter Gutwein has carte blanche to spend, Tasmanians will want to see what other aspects of our healthcare system will benefit from a cash splash.

Premier Peter Gutwein. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

Next week Mr Gutwein, who is Treasurer as well as Premier, will deliver a budget with a $1.1 billion deficit and the state will slide into net debt to the tune of $1.8 billion this financial year.

Mr Gutwein will still argue that Tasmania is better off than a number of other states and that our strong balance sheet heading into the coronavirus crisis stood us in good stead.

The Opposition will claim the warning signs were already there and that our budget under the Liberal Government was heading south.

Tasmanians couldn’t give two hoots about the history lesson from either party and will only want to see who can lead us out of the economic doldrums and pave the way for a better Tasmania.

You could be forgiven for mistaking the Gutwein government this year for some sort of socialist regime with the support measures he’s spent on during the pandemic. The approach has been in tune with the federal government.

But the popular Premier will have to walk and chew gum this year.

His budget will have to provide a safety net for the most vulnerable while stimulating private industry to help with our recovery and ensuring that our previously enjoyed purple patch reaches more Tasmanians than before.