Key health stakeholders left out in the cold by Ferguson

Concern about the Government’s newly announced THS governing body is growing with key stakeholders not given a seat at the table.

Shadow Health Minister Rebecca White said there’s no one representing the Royal Hobart Hospital, no one representing nurses and no one representing health consumers and the community.

“It’s becoming increasingly clear the Health Minister has got it badly wrong,” Ms White said.

“Health experts and their representative bodies are right to point out the deficiencies of the governing council.

“There was always a clear expectation that there would be fair regional representation on the governing council but for some reason there is not one member with clinical experience from the south.

“It begs the question, who did the Minister actually consult with when deciding the make-up of the council.

“For the Royal Hobart Hospital not to be represented at a time of major change is a huge oversight.

The governing council is heavily weighted in favour of academics and doctors with no representative from the nursing profession.

“At a time when the health system is about to embark on a major overhaul it seems very odd that there is not a more balanced representation of the workforce on the state’s governing health body.

“And to not involve an advocate for health consumers shows the Minister has no interest in hearing criticism.

“Mr Ferguson is clearly afraid to the get the feedback of consumers on how $210 million worth of cuts are affecting service delivery.”
Rebecca White MP Shadow Health Minister