Cecily Rosol MP, Greens Health spokesperson, 23 August 2024
RHH ED Decision A New Low for Liberals
The Royal Hobart Hospital ED redevelopment is a critical project, but leaked health department emails show it has been dumped and replaced with an alternative that’s not fit for purpose now, let alone in the future.
After neglecting our health system for a decade, the Liberals recently reached a new low with their ‘vacancy control’ cuts to staffing. But they’ve already outdone themselves by trashing the critical project to upgrade the Royal Hobart Hospital’s emergency department.
How can this government push ahead with building a billion-dollar stadium we don’t need, while making cuts to health infrastructure we can’t do without? It’s absolutely cooked.
It’s so important our hospitals get the investment they need to make sure our community is looked after properly – now and in the future. Failing to do that is nothing short of a betrayal of the Tasmanian people at the hands of the Rockliff government.
If we’re really serious about the health of Tasmanians, we need spending on health to be a top priority. Under the Liberals, that’s not the case.
With a $1.2 billion budget deficit and massive cuts already being made to health, it’s well past time the Liberals abandoned their attempt to build a billion-dollar stadium in Hobart.
Media release – Dr Michael Lumsden-Steel, President of the Australian Medical Association, (AMA) Tasmania, 23 August 2024
THERE IS NO PLAN B FOR THE ROYAL HOBART HOSPITAL (RHH) EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT (ED) REDEVELOPMENT
The President of the AMA, Tasmania branch, Dr Michael Lumsden-Steel, calls for the Premier to direct the Treasury to provide the extra $50 million to ensure the entire redevelopment of the Royal Hobart Hospital emergency department.
The government has made a clear undertaking to build a football stadium that meets the AFL requirements and is fit for purpose; we must see the same courage and integrity in health infrastructure needed for Tasmania.
“There is no Plan B for the RHH emergency redevelopment that will not see patients and staff damaged because of an outdated, inadequate emergency department.
“Our ED doctors are angry and distressed at the news that their workplace is not being prioritised and will not be upgraded to meet modern standards to enable them to care for the growing number of sick patients.
“Not following through with the total project will result in one of the most significant waste of taxpayers’ money on a project that fails to meet today’s demand, let alone tomorrow.
“Working in an overcrowded, old-fashioned ED causes injury to patients who are not seen on time and moral injury to our emergency staff, which leads to burnout and staff exiting health care.
“We know the health department has been told there is no more money for the RHH ED redevelopment by the government, for which the Premier and Treasurer are responsible.
“The result of these cuts will be a sub-standard costly project that will deliver up to 25 fewer lie-down acute adult beds. These are the beds needed for a growing older and sicker population.
“We cannot go backwards!
“We need the extra $50 million now to deliver the original project.
“The Treasurer and Premier must intervene and deliver the money required for sick Tasmanians.
“The AMA cannot and will not sit by and watch this government’s worst decision regarding critical health infrastructure go through unchallenged.
“We need the government to prioritise sick Tasmanians.
“There cannot be a more critical project than this one for southern Tasmania!”
Media release – Ella Haddad MP, Shadow Minister for Health; Josh Willie MP, Shadow Treasurer, 23 August 2024
Government breaks emergency department expansion promise due to budget issues
After previously cutting the budget for the planned Royal Hobart Hospital Emergency Department Expansion in July, the Government are set to make more cuts to the project and break their promise to provide fit-for-purpose emergency department facilities.
The $149 million expansion of the RHH ED was recommended to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works in February this year. However, in July the Acting Health Secretary told ABC radio that the budget was only $130 million – a 13 per cent decrease than what was originally outlined by the Health Department.
But it now seems that the Government plan to cut the project again – this time leaving staff and management concerned that the new scaled-back design is not fit-for-purpose and does not appropriately future proof the ED.
A project described by the Health Department as a ‘beacon of hope’ for our healthcare system is now set to be another casualty of the Liberal-Lambie budget cuts. Cutting back the planned expansion is particularly worrying given they come on top of vacancy control measures, which could see up to 700 jobs slashed from the health department.
Earlier in the week, Saul Eslake’s report detailed just how badly the Liberals have mismanaged Tasmania’s finances over the last decade. With a $1.5 billion budget deficit and the state’s finances on a course for $16 billion in debt in 10 years’ time, the Liberal-Lambie Coalition are set to make Tasmanian patients pay the price for their budget disaster.
Make no mistake: we are in this position because of the Liberals’ budget mismanagement over the last decade.
Tasmania’s health system is sick enough – whether it’s jobs or infrastructure, it can’t afford the Liberal-Lambie health cuts.
