The Liberal Health Minister’s Mental Health Observation Unit backflip is stark evidence of his failure to listen to hospital staff, and his contempt for their expertise.
Minister Michael Ferguson refused to listen to clinicians who warned him the MHOU design would put patients at risk. With textbook Orwellian doublespeak, Minister Ferguson now claims to have “consulted” with staff, after he wasted public money on a white elephant that’s not fit for purpose.
In doing so, Minister Ferguson has created a new problem without solving the first one. More money must now be spent to repurpose the building, while mental health patients in crisis are still facing lengthy waits to get admitted to the seriously overcrowded Department of Emergency Medicine.
Minister Ferguson has shown repeatedly in the last four years he will not listen to the views of experts if they conflict with his political agenda. In this case he ignored a storm of concerns about the design of the MHOU, focusing on his chances at the state election rather than the disaster of mental health admission queues at the Royal Hobart Hospital.
The Liberal Government removed 10 beds from the DEM during the RHH redevelopment, despite clinicians at the time repeatedly warning of the dire consequences for patients.
This is a mess of the Minister’s making, due to his ego and desperation to appear in control of the serious crisis facing people with mental health distress in southern Tasmania. He needs to sit down with staff and have an open and frank conversation about a long-term plan for patient care, not just one with a March 2018 horizon.
Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Health spokesperson
