The Hodgman Liberal Government’s $76 million investment in additional elective surgeries will deliver more than 800 extra surgeries this financial year for Tasmanians who have been on waiting lists for too long.
In the first year of this commitment, we have delivered treatment to all the Tasmanian children who had waited over the recommended time for elective surgery as at 1 July 2014.
Over-boundary urgent adult patients and some of the state’s longest waiting patients have also been targeted in the first year.
We make no apology for targeting many of the most complex cases first. We will not leave people languishing on waiting lists simply because they have more complex cases which take longer to resolve.
Labor, who left these people on waiting lists for years, are more interested in spending money than getting real results.
Our $76 million for elective surgeries was designed to deliver additional elective surgeries and to particularly help those who had been on the waiting list for an unacceptable period of time.
To 6 May 2015, a total of $9 million has been expended, delivering surgery to 742 Tasmanian patients, and it is expected that a further 95 surgeries will be performed this financial year.
The remainder of the funding allocated for this year will be rolled forward to the 2015-16 year, meaning there is $20.4 million in state government funding available for additional elective surgeries in the coming year. This is on top of the baseline funding for elective surgeries, and the Commonwealth Government’s $25 million over two years for further elective surgeries.
Michael Ferguson, Minister for Health
