… about Tasmanian Public Health Crisis and recognise 5 Big Picture failures: Lambie
Independent Senator for Tasmania Jacqui has called on Senator Duniam and other Liberal party supporters to stop telling lies and spreading misinformation about the cause of the Tasmanian Health Crisis – and to acknowledge that his party’s criminally bad planning, management, gross under resourcing and funding of public health are the root causes for the failure in Public Health.
“Sadly, when it comes to Tasmania’s public health system there are a few obvious problems and facts that many elected officials (Senator Duniam included) still refuse to acknowledge for pure political reasons, in the lead up to a state election.
Unfortunately, all of Senator Duniam’s public statements to date on Tasmania’s growing Public Health Crisis have not acknowledged the root causes of our problem, namely:
1) Criminally bad planning / management and
2) Gross under resourcing / funding.
By name calling, nasty personal attacks and finger pointing, as patients die needlessly – Senator Duniam and others have tried to muddy the public debate and deflect criticism away from the Liberal party’s significant role in the catastrophic melt down of Tasmanian public health management and patient care.” said Senator Lambie.
“If we’re going to fix Tasmania’s public health crisis – and create a public health care system that will properly care for our grand-children and great grand-children, (who unlike Senator Duniam and his rich colleagues, will not be able to afford private medical insurance) – then we must be honest and recognise the following big picture problems:
1) Despite the best efforts of our doctors, nurses and ambos etc. (who perform miracles every day saving lives) under the management of the Liberal party – Tasmania’s public health system is now in a dire crisis – which unnecessarily places patient’s lives at risk.
2) Every health expert and ordinary Tasmanian knows that all our major hospitals are overcrowded, over capacity and struggling to keep up with the number of sick people – because there are not enough fully funded, resourced and staffed hospital beds. We need right now another 150 funded and staffed public hospital beds, just to catch up with mainland bed averages and patient demand.
· Even the AMA indicates that to fix Tasmania’s Health Crisis we need hundreds more acute care hospital beds and thousands of extra clinical staff to go with those new beds.
3) Within the Tasmanian public health crisis – the patients most at risk are those from the N/NW of our state, because seriously sick patients in need of acute medical care are now being denied treatment in Devonport and Burnie and being transferred to over-crowded public hospitals in crisis at Launceston and Hobart – due to the Liberal’s health cuts, outlined in their health white paper.
· I’ve been reliably informed, that about 30% of patients in Launceston Public Hospital are from the N/NW – which is more damming proof of the Liberal’s incompetent management and under resourcing of Health.
4) Unfortunately, the federal government has churned through Health ministers – and to date has failed to announce guaranteed long term funding for the Mersey Community Hospital – placing even more strain on N/NW public health services.
· I’m hopeful after meeting with the new Health Minister in the last parliament, that this problem will be solved soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzh4aHvwnqs
5) There is no serious long term plan or debate about how to care for our great grandchildren who choose to live in the N/NW of Tas. If the current trend and crisis in public Health continues for the next 20 years – more and more seriously sick patients from Smithton, Wynyard, Zeehan, Burnie, Ulverstone, Devonport etc. requiring acute medical care will continue to experience a life threatening transfer to Launceston or Hobart public hospitals – which are in meltdown now!
As a community we should have the maturity to be able to talk about solutions to all 5 problems I’ve listed, which add up to dysfunction, crisis and unnecessary lives lost in our Tasmanian Public Health System.
Indeed, as elected officials we have a duty to future generations of Tasmanians to honestly talk about all 5 matters, and as in the example of Senator Duniam and other Liberal supporters, not use twisted logic and cheap personal shots to limit public debate.
Elected Government members, in particular should stop their deliberately mixed messages and focus their energy on the new federal health minister and his state counterpart. They need to be reminded that at the core of our Public Health crisis, the cause of our problems are:
1) Criminally bad planning / management and
2) Gross under resourcing / funding.
The Liberals are in government both state and federally – and they have the power over the federal and state budgets to fix Tasmania’s Health Crisis, if they choose.” said Senator Lambie.
Rob Messenger for Senator Jacqui Lambie Senator for Tasmania
