Labor says the Government’s $105 million health funding ploy is a ‘panicked, overdue’ reaction

Labor says the State Government’s injection of $105 million into the underfunded Tasmanian health system is nothing more than a Band-Aid solution.

Health Minister Michael Ferguson. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

LABOR says the State Government’s injection of $105 million into the underfunded Tasmanian health system is nothing more than a Band-Aid solution.

On Tuesday, Health Minister Michael Ferguson announced the extra funding for the state’s hospitals to meet increased demand with the state’s emergency departments growing by 7000 patients annually for the past two years.

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“For Labor to say we’re only offering Band-Aid solutions is completely misleading when they know we are currently building the buildings needed to open those new beds and employ those new staff,” Mr Ferguson said.

But Opposition health spokeswoman Sarah Lovell said the funding announcement was a “panicked and overdue reaction to the utter chaos unfolding in Tasmania’s hospitals”.

“The Government has known about this chronic funding shortfall since it received the KPMG report 18 months ago, so why did it take so long to act?” she said.

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Ms Lovell said on Monday, 11 ambulances were ramped at the Royal Hobart Hospital and the closest available vehicles for emergency calls in Hobart were in Nubeena and on the East Coast.

“Night shift crews arrived for work with no vehicles available as they were all queued outside the Royal Hobart Hospital, and seven staff worked between 12 and 14 hours with no break,” she said.

“This is totally unacceptable and we need to know that this new funding will be used to fix the crisis and isn’t just a Band-Aid approach.”

Australian Medical Association president John Davis, who has described overcrowding at the Royal Hobart Hospital as the worst it has ever been, said the money was needed immediately.

“Local management knows best what is needed within the individual facilities to urgently manage the patient loads,” he said.

“The minister should also remove any red tape or unhelpful and unnecessary bureaucracy that’s standing in the way of the leadership teams from doing the job of running the hospitals and caring for patients.”

Mr Ferguson did not confirm if the funding was recurrent or not but said it was delivering a long-term health plan, which included nearly 300 additional beds in the state’s hospitals, 1300 extra health staff and new services.