Health Minister Michael Ferguson to announce $105m for state’s hospitals

The Government will inject more than $100 million into the state’s hospitals after months of intense political and community focus on the state’s ailing health system.

Health Minister Michael Ferguson, left, and Treasurer Peter Gutwein. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

THE State Government will inject an extra $105 million into the state’s hospitals after months of intense political and community focus on Tasmania’s ailing health system.

Health Minister Michael Ferguson and Treasurer Peter Gutwein will today announce the additional funding to “[meet] the costs of increased demand being delivered”.

“This comes on top of the extra $465 million budgeted for health in the 2018-19 Budget and will be reflected in the Treasurer’s Revised Estimates report later this year,” the ministers said.

Mr Ferguson earlier this year rejected a report which quoted an unreleased KPMG audit that found Tasmania’s health system was underfunded by about $100 million a year.

Mr Ferguson also refused to release the KPMG report to a Legislative Council committee examining issues with the state’s acute health system. Regardless, an interim report released by the Sub-Committee on Acute Health Services last week found that Tasmania’s public health system was underfunded and struggling with high demand and demoralised staff.

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The Australian Medical Association last night released a statement demanding that the Government urgently provide extra funds to the Royal Hobart Hospital to recruit more staff.

“The Government has shown they are ill-equipped, with no backup plans, no short-term solutions, no immediate retention and recruitment processes in place,” AMA state president John Davis said.

“All of which is putting an immeasurable amount of pressure on already overworked but extremely committed staff. The current operations of our state’s hospital systems display a complete lack of critical planning by the Government.”

AMA state president John Davis. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

The joint statement from Mr Ferguson and Mr Gutwein acknowledged that demand on the state’s hospitals had increased by more than 7000 patients per year since 2016.

“Investing these additional funds, as previously foreshadowed, is the result of increasing patient demand for our services,” Mr Ferguson and Mr Gutwein said.

“Health is by its nature demand driven and our public hospital emergency departments never close their doors.”

The Royal Hobart Hospital last week suffered a code yellow, or internal emergency, triggered by a blocked grease trap causing a severe odour. Its emergency department was already sitting at its highest level of patient demand when it was partly cleared out so workers could deal with the stench.

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Unions and the Opposition had repeatedly said demand at the hospital this year was the worst it had ever been.

Mr Ferguson and Mr Gutwein said that health was a top priority for the Liberal Government.

“Importantly, the Royal Hobart Hospital redevelopment is less than a year away,” they said.

“We are only able to invest these extra funds because of our sensible financial management and the strength of our finances.”