Minister must provide details of health plan

Shadow Health Minister Rebecca White is seeking a briefing about Health Minister Michael Ferguson’s proposed mergers of Tasmanian Health Organisations and the establishment of the Tasmanian Health Service.

“Labor is willing to support health reform if it benefits Tasmanian patients,” Ms White said.

“But what we, health professionals and the Tasmanian people need to see from Mr Ferguson is detail.

“If Mr Ferguson does not yet have that full detail why is he making these announcements, seeking media attention and headlines?

“There remain a number of significant questions about the Minister’s announcement including how these changes will be implemented, how improvements will be made and measured, what services will be centralised and importantly how health outcomes for Tasmanians will be improved.

“Mr Ferguson claims he is making $21 million in savings but how many job losses will that amount to and are they in addition to the job losses this government has already announced?

“Labor is prepared to work in a bipartisan manner to improve Tasmanian’s health services, but like all Tasmanians we can’t make decisions without the detail.”
Rebecca White MP Shadow Health Minister