The Hodgman Liberal Government is fixing the broken health system so that Tasmanians can have access to the best quality health care.
Under the One State, One Health System, Better Outcomes reforms we are changing the way our health system operates so we can get better results for Tasmanians.
By turning the Mersey into a dedicated elective surgery facility it frees up beds in the other hospitals and will further reduce the number of cancellations. This is a plan Ms White continues to fail to support.
Today I have released online the figures which confirm that the number of elective surgery cancellations in Tasmania have dropped in 2014-15. The figures, contained in Right to Information documents show just over 3,000 hospital initiated elective surgery cancellations in 2014-15. This is a drop from 3,240 cancellations in the financial year prior. Cancellations were higher in earlier years, with a peak of 3,510 in 2010-11.
Importantly, this reduction is despite a corresponding in increase in the frequency and complexity of emergency surgery, which impacts on theatre, surgeon and staff availability.
Driving the number of cancellations down further is a key focus of the One State, One Health System reforms, including the dedicated Elective Surgery Centre at the Mersey Hospital, as well as the additional $100 million we have provided to the THS to deliver frontline health services.
The Hodgman Liberal Government’s important reforms to fix our broken health system have been supported by expert medical and clinical advice.
The Tasmanian Government is acting where Labor did nothing to fix the health system.
Michael Ferguson, Minister for Health
