Media release – Jeremy Rockliff, Premier, Minister for State Development, Trade and the Antarctic, Minister for Tourism and Hospitality, Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Member for Braddon; Guy Barnett, Attorney General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Health, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Member for Lyons, 4 March 2024
Liberals Unveil Additional Elements Of New GP Guarantee
Today, the Rockliff Liberal Team is unveiling two additional elements of our exciting new GP Guarantee – mobile GP clinics; and a new GP specialist service for children with ADHD.
“We are making record investments across all our major hospitals, employing more emergency staff, and we’re effectively banning ramping as part of our 2030 Strong Plan,” Premier Jeremy Rockliff said.
“The most important part of our 2030 Strong Plan for health, is our GP Guarantee which is designed to ensure that when you need to see a GP, you’ll be able to see a GP.
“Yesterday, I announced three elements of the GP Guarantee:
- A 10-doctor state-employed GP Now Rapid Response Team, available to be deployed at short notice to areas of GP shortage across the state;
- We will pick up the HECs tab up to $100,000 for 40 new GPs, as part of an incentive to attract doctors to work in Tasmania’s rural and regional areas for five years;
- Third, we are going to partner with GPs in outer-urban, regional and rural Tasmania to strengthen and sustain their practices, with multi-year funding of up to $250,000 per year.
“Today, I am announcing two exciting additional measures as part of our GP Guarantee.
“First, we will provide funding to operate a fully equipped Mobile GP Practice in and around Hobart.
“The Mobile GP Practice is currently operating under a one-year trial, which a re-elected Rockliff Liberal Government will extend for an additional two years.
“The Mobile GP Practice will provide walk-in, bulk-billed GP services in four-hourly clinics, five days a week on a rotating roster that visits Neighbourhood Houses in New Norfolk, Clarendon Vale, Gagebrook and Chigwell, and the Salvation Army in Glenorchy and Flint House in New Town.
“This will provide an additional 9,000 bulk-billed medical appointments to Tasmanians, and will help to reduce emergency department presentations and ambulance call-outs.”
The Premier said that subject to further evaluation, a re-elected majority Liberal Government would look to extend the Mobile GP Service state-wide.
Minister for Health, Guy Barnett, said that a re-elected majority Rockliff Liberal Government will also establish a new GP specialist service for children with ADHD.
“Currently, it is extremely difficult to get specialist diagnosis and treatment for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,” Minister Barnett said.
“We will employ two new general practitioners with special interest in ADHD to work in public out-patient clinics across the state.
“This will boost the services available for all Tasmanian families and children.
“We are also committed to making the necessary regulatory changes to allow GPs with special interests in this area to prescribe the appropriate medications, and will commence this process within our first 100 days.
Minister Barnett said that the Liberals’ GP Guarantee will ensure we have more GPs to provide help when and where Tasmanians need it.
“We are stepping in where the Federal Labor Government has failed GPs and Tasmanians.
“With our 2030 Strong Plan we are committed to making our health system better, because it really is the most important thing we can do for Tasmanians.”
Media release – Independent Member for Lyons, John Tucker MP, 4 March 2024
MORE GPs NOW PLEASE
Independent Member for Lyons John Tucker today welcomed the Liberal Party’s election commitment to rebuild the GP workforce and called on Labor to match it.
Mr Tucker said the Liberal policy was a welcome change of approach from a Government which had previously focussed its GP initiatives exclusively on city-based services.
“I have been calling for incentives to get more GPs on the ground, particularly in rural and regional areas, and it is encouraging that the Government is at last starting to listen.
“The AMA has estimated we need an extra 150 GPs to serve the health needs of Tasmanians and the shortage is worst in rural and regional communities.
“It is shocking that governments have allowed the situation to get to crisis point, and we need action now. The Liberal commitment is a good start, but we need Labor on board to make this a bipartisan resolve.
“GPs keep people out of hospital and the GP shortage is short-changing communities and ramping up pressure on the rest of the health system, including our hospitals.”
Mr Tucker said the test now for the Premier was to deliver.
“We have had a lot of health promises from the Liberals at election after election, and a lot of failure to deliver.
“The Liberal hospital announcements yesterday were full of warmed over reprints of the 2021 commitments which are still sitting in the Government in-tray after years of inaction.
“That is not good enough. Tasmanians in rural areas need access to a GP and they need it now. They don’t need empty promises and persistent failure to follow through.”
Media release – Anita Dow MP, Shadow Health Minister, 4 March 2024
After 10 years Liberal ‘guarantee’ has no credibility
The Liberals have had 10 years to improve Tasmania’s health system, and Tasmanians are rightly sceptical of any so called ‘guarantee’ from this tired government.
The Liberals lack all credibility as the health system has been decimated on their watch.
This is a government that has made so many promises on health and delivered nothing.
Meanwhile Jeremy Rockliff has still not ruled out introducing a GP tax.
Tasmanians are in a cost of living crisis and they cannot afford to pay an extra $15 every time they need to see a doctor.
If the Liberals haven’t improved the health system after 10 years, they never will.
