The Greens are proud to sponsor an ANMF petition calling for the Liberal Government to improve access and flow across the health system. Instead of making cuts to health, the Liberals should be funding the desperately needed improvements across the health service.
Tasmania’s health system is in crisis. People who need care are waiting for hours for ambulances and in emergency departments, and the elective surgery waitlist isn’t getting any better.
The Liberal Government talks a lot about the Federal Government’s responsibility to provide appropriate aged care and disability housing so people can leave hospital when they’re able. But the Liberal State Government can also do so much more.
The Liberals have been presented with solutions to improve hospital access and flow time and time again by the ANMF, as well as by the Greens-led Ambulance Ramping Inquiry. But the Liberals haven’t even responded.
Instead, they’re making $700 million of cuts to the health system. Anyone waiting for healthcare in this state will tell you it’s shameful.
It’s why the Greens are sponsoring an ANMF petition calling on the Liberals to take responsibility for funding the improvements desperately needed in the state health system. Public hospitals should have safe staffing levels, with diagnostic support services and all available beds operating – no matter the time of the day.
Community health services can help people remain safely at home instead of being admitted to hospital, but they’re often unable to meet demand. The Liberals should expand community-based services, including community nursing, dementia care, rapid response, acute older persons mental health, and palliative care.
District hospitals also play a vital role in providing care closer to home but they face workforce shortages and inadequate resources. The petition calls on the government to establish 30 sub-acute beds in the North, North-West and South.
The crisis in Tasmania’s health system isn’t going away, and that means Tasmanians continuing to miss out on the care they need when they need it. We encourage the community to sign the petition and send the message to the Liberal Government that they must step up and take the action desperately needed across the health service.
