Media release – Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for Health, 14 July 2021
North West community set to receive better care with the Community Rapid Response Service now permanent
The Tasmanian Liberal Government is strengthening community care, investing an additional $52 million for in-home and locally delivered community health services.
This investment includes funding dedicated to our Community Rapid Response Service (ComRRS) in the North West, and across the State.
The North West Community Rapid Response Services began as a pilot program in 2019, and with funding from the Tasmanian Liberal Government will now become a permanent service.
The service is a shared care model between GPs and the Community Rapid Response team, who deliver a hospital-avoidance program that provides quality care within the community for those with a range of conditions, including chronic and complex illnesses.
On average, the North West Community Rapid Response Service receives 60-70 referrals per month, and since the pilot program was launched in 2019, has delivered over 4,630 hours of care, providing better health outcomes for their patients.
We know that when people are treated in the community – when appropriate – they recover sooner.
And, through investing in community-based multidisciplinary models of care, we can prevent presentations to the emergency department and reduce hospital admissions. This frees up hospital beds, meaning more medical and surgical services for more patients who need them.
The permanency of this program delivers on our plan to implement solutions to the challenges we face in health, and ensures that Tasmanians get the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
New cancer fighting equipment in action in Hobart
Hundreds of Tasmanians will now receive their cancer treatment closer to home with the Tasmanian Liberal Government investing in a new Linear Accelerator at the Royal Hobart Hospital.
We know there have been increasing demands for radiation oncology in Tasmania and delivering on our 2019 commitment to upgrade the state’s radiation oncology equipment is another step forward in achieving a better health system for all Tasmanians.
The new, state-of-the-art, Linear Accelerator at the WP Holman Clinic will provide clinicians an opportunity to design the best and most precise treatment plan, improving patient outcomes.
Linear Accelerators deliver highly accurate radiation treatment for patients, making them an essential and integral part of any modern cancer facility, and will make a real difference to over 750 patients who receive treatment at the WP Holman Clinic each year.
Through the investment of more modern equipment that supports our world-class clinicians, fewer patients will need to travel to the mainland to receive treatment.
This means so much not only to those who need the treatment, but also to their family, their friends, and carers who support them.
Importantly, I want to thank the dedicated staff who work in the WP Holman Clinic for their continued commitment to helping expand patient care, treatment, and outcomes.
The equipment has been delivered through the state and Australian Government’s Commonwealth Radiation Oncology Health Program Grant and is part of a $28 million investment from the Tasmanian Liberal Government into upgrading the state’s oncology equipment.
The Tasmanian Liberal Government remains committed to providing critical cancer services and improving health outcomes for all Tasmanians, and investments such as these will make life a lot easier for both staff and patients.
Media release – Dr Bastian Seidel MLC, Shadow Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing Minister, 14 July 2021
Critical three-year-old health promises still not delivered by Gutwein Government
As the Tasmanian health system continues to lurch from disaster to disaster the Liberal Government has failed abysmally on crucial resourcing promises it made more than three years ago.
Shadow Minister for Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing Dr Bastian Seidel said an important commitment to fast track a so-called dedicated Health Recruitment, Retention and Workforce Planning Unit made by former failed Health Minister Michael Ferguson in 2018 had still not been delivered.
“Mr Ferguson promised to deliver this unit in the first month of the former Hodgman Government in 2018 which he said would deliver more than 1,300 new health staff within six years,” Dr Seidel said.
“Three years on there is no sign of any effort to recruit desperately needed health staff as this government continues to utterly fail Tasmanians with a broken health system.
“The new Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff has talked a big game since he took over the job earlier this year but Tasmanians have not seen any actual genuine effort to improve the health system or to recruit desperately needed staff.
“Given the Liberals’ appalling track record Tasmanians can have no confidence he will deliver.
“The number of Tasmanians languishing on the outpatient wait list has blown out from more than 51,300 to more than 54,400 over the most recent quarter.
“The number of Tasmanians waiting for dental health care has also increased significantly by 2,000 from more than 15,200 to more than 17,200 in that same period.
“We have a new Health Minister who is at the same time accepting responsibility for an unacceptable situation at the state’s top mental health facility the Roy Fagan Centre but failing to do anything to fix it.
“Mr Rockliff is happy to stand in front of the television cameras and try to talk the talk but he has nothing tangible to say that will actually deliver an improved health and hospital system.
“The much-repeated slogan ‘securing Tasmania’s future’ is just a hollow political catchphrase if this Liberal Government does not even want to face the reality of the present.”
Anita Dow MP, Labor Member for Braddon, 14 July 2021
How many health ministers does it take to build an ambulance station?
The Liberal Government continues to bungle the development of the new Burnie Ambulance Station.
Labor Member for Braddon Anita Dow said the government were yet to deliver on their 2018 election commitment and ongoing delays were unfair to hardworking paramedics and the North-West community.
“We have had three Health Ministers oversee this project and the government needs to make a start,” Ms Dow said.
“The proposal to relocate the ambulance station to a residential area has raised concern for some adjoining residents and the government must work with the community to find a suitable site.”
Ms Dow said the essential station was announced three years ago and now is the time for the government to properly consult the community and put the wheels in motion for it to be built.
“New Health Minister Jeremey Rockliff cannot follow in the footsteps of failed Health Ministers Michael Ferguson and Sarah Courtney with more delays and announcements.
“The Liberals must deliver the new Burnie Ambulance Station, they have already wasted three years with inaction.”
