The Liberals’ commitments to increase endoscopies and reduce wait times is welcome. It follows the Greens drawing attention to the case of a member of the public waiting an unacceptable length of time for an endoscopy following a positive bowel cancer test.
Earlier this year, the Greens were contacted by a member of the community who had returned a positive bowel cancer screen. He’d been told by his doctor that he’d been put in the most urgent category for a colonoscopy to confirm the test result.
When the Greens raised this issue in Parliament in September, he’d been waiting 80 days. He should’ve been seen within 30 days. He’d been told there were 1,000 people on the waitlist, and that he’d have to wait 6-12 months.
Endoscopies are vital procedures which allow for the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses. The long wait times currently being experienced cause significant stress as people wait for diagnosis, delayed treatment and face potential worsening of their illness.
The Greens welcome the Liberals taking up our calls to urgently increase endoscopy procedures and reduce wait times. It shows it is possible to make change in the health service where it’s desperately needed.
There are plenty of other areas of Tasmania’s health system which need significant investment to improve patient outcomes. The Liberals should invest in other areas of the health service to make the improvements needed – not continue with their $700 million of cuts as planned.
