Statement from a Tasmanian Government spokesperson
“We understand there is demand pressure on our hospitals and acute health services, driven by
increasing presentations and patient complexity, which is exactly why we are investing to meet
these challenges.
The Tasmanian Liberal Government is making an unprecedented investment in the state’s health
system of $8.1 billion over four years.
Overall, there are now more than 1150 new FTE of health staff in our system than in March 2014,
but we know there is still more to be done and we will keep delivering for Tasmanians.
In particular we have increased ED staffing at the Royal Hobart Hospital – including 44 per cent more
doctors and 39 per cent more nurses since coming to Government five years ago, to help ensure
more patients can get the care they need.
We have also recruited an additional 110 paramedics and dispatch officers since 2014, backed up by
our $125 million plan to boost Ambulance Tasmania services.
Importantly, we are redeveloping the Royal Hobart Hospital and will begin commissioning the new KBlock next month. The Government has committed to open an additional 44 beds following
commissioning, as part of our plan to progressively open 250 beds in the south over six years. These
new beds come on top of the more than 130 beds we have opened across the state over the last 5
years. We are also progressing the $87 million Launceston General Hospital redevelopment, and
undertaking significant works in the North-West.
Demand on health services is not isolated to Tasmania and is a challenge being faced by other
jurisdictions. It is how we respond to these challenges that matters and we will continue to work
hard to deliver our commitments to build better infrastructure, bolster our frontline services and put
in place the resources and initiatives required to ease the pressure and ensure Tasmanians have
access to the care they need, when they need it.
Other initiatives to help manage and reduce demand on public acute health services include:
- New Community Rapid Response services;
- Delivering increased outreach health services through the Tazreach program;
- The implementation of secondary triage for ambulance calls;
- Training more Intensive Care Paramedics;
- Increased collaboration with private health services; and
- Expanding telehealth services to reduce the need for patients to travel and improve access to
community-based care.
We know there is always more to be done and I am committed to working hard to improve our
services and invest in the care Tasmanians need.”