• Minister’s claims around “new” beds show new level of dishonesty
• Ferguson tries to act only after his dishonesty exposed by RTI
• Minister interested only in misleading Tasmanians and ignoring real crisis
Health Minister Michael Ferguson has taken the Hodgman Government’s entrenched dishonesty to a new low today in his deceptive and misleading “announcement” of new beds to relieve pressure on Tasmanian emergency departments.
Shadow Health Minister Rebecca White said the hospital beds Mr Ferguson had announced after months of doing nothing around the crisis in the state’s EDs had either been promised previously but not delivered by the government, closed by the government, announced earlier but not put into use or proposed by the Labor Opposition.
“The two intensive care beds Mr Ferguson has announced today are the same beds the Liberals promised at the 2014 election – and failed to deliver,” Ms White said.
“The 10 beds he has announced at the Roy Fagen Centre are the same beds Mr Ferguson shut when he closed the Jasmine Unit.
“The seven beds he has announced at the New Norfolk District Hospital are beds that were announced as part of his Patients First package in April last year but have subsequently not been used.
“The eight beds he has announced at the Hobart Private Hospital are the same beds Labor asked the Minister to investigate purchasing in October 2016 but he did nothing about.
“Let’s be clear – these are not new beds at all.
“These beds barely make up for the ones that the RHH lost when the demolition of B Block began.
“If the Minister thinks he can re-announce the same strategies from April last year and pretend they are new he has sunk to a desperate low.
“To add insult to injury, there have been no solutions funded or proposed for the north of the state in the Minister’s announcement today, leaving staff at the LGH wondering whether recommendations from the Report will be implemented or not.
“Mr Ferguson has had the Review of Access to Emergency Care at the LGH and RHH report on his desk since last August.
“He has known for the past six months that what staff were telling him at the frontline – that our EDs are in crisis – is true because those same claims are contained in this report.
“To say he has consulted with staff is offensive. He has not. They hadn’t seen the report until it was released under right to information laws yesterday.
“He has not listened to staff who have been speaking out for many, many months.
“His dishonesty and the fact that he is more than willing to mislead Tasmanians is disgraceful.”
Rebecca White MP Shadow Health and Preventative Care Minister