State government to commit $45m for elective surgeries to help ease hospital pressures

The state government will inject a significant amount of money in the state’s health system in a bid to drive down Tasmania’s ballooned elective surgery waiting list.

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THE state government has pledged $45.5m to help drive down Tasmania’s ballooned elective surgery wait list.

Announced as a measure included in the upcoming state budget, the funding will allow for about 8500 elective surgeries to be carried out across the next 18 months.

It equates to about 120 additional procedures being performed each week.

June public health elective surgery waitlist figures showed 11,342 Tasmanians were awaiting an operation.

Opposition parliamentarians have suggested that figure has likely grown as a result of the coronavirus outbreak which paused most surgeries for several weeks.

Health Minister Sarah Courtney said the surgery funding boost added to a previously announced $15m provided by the federal government.

Health Minister Sarah Courtney. Picture: PATRICK GEE

“This is a huge boost to our surgery capacity, with an estimated 19,000 surgeries now planned for the 2020-21 financial year,” Ms Courtney said.

“Importantly, this funding also means we have now delivered an additional $170.5m for elective surgeries since 2014.”

It comes as the latest Australian Medical Association annual report found the median waiting time for elective surgery in Tasmania was 57 days in 2018-19 and was only worse in 2015-16 when the median wait time was 72 days.

Both of those figures were inferior when compared with other Australian states and territories.

The 2019-20 Department of Health annual report showed 68 per cent of Category 1 elective surgery patients were seen on time – down from 78 per cent four years prior.

AMA Tasmania president Helen McArdle last month flagged significant concerns about investment in the state’s health sector given the government’s COVID-hit budget position, saying “I don’t think there will be any cuts possible in health”.

Ms Courtney said surgical leaders would begin planning the additional surgeries to ensure they meet the needs of the Tasmanian community.

“These have been challenging times for our health system and every day I will continue to look at how we can better protect and care for Tasmanians,” she said.

“I would like to thank Tasmanians for their patience during COVID-19 and our hardworking health workers for their continued work.”