Ms O’CONNOR – Thank you, Chair.
CHAIR – This is an overview question.
Ms O’CONNOR – Yes. This is an overview question, and it’s related to vacancy control and efficiency dividends, which touch on all parts of the health budget. The Greens are very concerned to understand what the human implications of the $130 million in savings across the forward estimates will be, and that’s just the efficiency dividend. So, minister, we presume it’ll be left to the department to determine how that efficiency dividend is achieved. And perhaps through you, the secretary could give us some idea about the plan for these savings. But what we want to understand is exactly what measures will be taken in order to achieve these $130 million in cuts, and how many full-time equivalent positions do you expect to be cut?
Mr BARNETT – So thanks very much for the question through you, Chair. I think this question’s addressed at least in part in the House of Assembly last week. The Treasurer did table the department’s response in terms of the budget efficiencies, and that response outlined some of the key savings strategies, which I will ask the acting secretary to make reference to and provide further to that answer.
Mr WEBSTER – Thanks, minister, and through you. So as you’ve said, the department’s share of the budget efficiency dividend across the forward estimate’s $134.8 million with $67.4 million ongoing. We propose to manage the strategy through a number of areas, so the first thing is that we’ve taken a look at the departmental leadership and looked where we could combine roles. So two, for instance, of that are the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Psychiatrist Role is now undertaken by Professor Arya. The role of Chief Executive of Mental Health is now undertaken by the Deputy Secretary of Community Mental Health and Wellbeing as two examples of that combination.
The second thing we’ve done is look at we have, as you’d appreciate, a large spend on consumables, and we’ve worked out how we can actually go about ordering our consumables and how we can change what I would call our risk profile of consumables. If I give an example of that, for instance, through COVID and post-COVID with shortages in pharmaceuticals, across a lot of our high-risk pharmaceuticals, we hold 12 weeks of stock. If we have a period where we might not use some of that stock, then it gets written off. These are usually very high-cost items and is anything between $3 million and $5 million a year of write-offs.
We’ve actually worked on processes and looked at other states and how they do their pharmaceutical ordering. We think by actually changing the nature of our contracts, we can actually bring a different process for ordering that will save that $3 million to $5 million across that. Applying that across a number of areas of consumables, et cetera, to actually get ongoing savings, we believe, we can actually achieve through that as well.
Ms O’CONNOR – With respect, though, I don’t think you’ll get it up to $40 million a year in savings. Through those sorts of measures.
Mr WEBSTER – Yes. Through you, minister, through a number of those measures, we believe we can get very close to that $40 million, remembering that our consumables budget is $600 million. So we’re looking at less than 10 per cent saving to achieve that, but we’re not looking at it all coming from consumables. There’ll be other areas of combinations. So, for instance, in the Department of Health or the systems management part of the department, we are looking at the number of policy teams that we have. So, for instance, at the moment in the department, we have a policy team that looks at government relations or, if you like, the Australian government policies, and we have separate policy teams that work at the state level.
So we’re looking at how do we actually get efficiencies by bringing some of them together over the period. So there are a number of initiatives like that of combining resources. Also areas such as consultants, travel – all of those things which, within the context of the health budget, are large consumable spaces where we can actually achieve considerable outcomes.
Ms O’CONNOR – Thank you, acting secretary. So, minister, the part of the question that wasn’t answered related to job losses. And having listened to Mr Webster there, it’s pretty clear that there will be some job losses, whether it be in policy unit or not-filled Chief Psychiatric Officer or whatever. What is the projection of the number of FTEs or headcount – whatever measure you want to present to the table – or both would be better – the cut in those numbers that will result as a result of the efficiency dividend?
Mr BARNETT – Thank you for the question. I will pass to the acting secretary in one moment, but just to confirm what we have said as a government since the election – and that’s a very effective recruitment campaign with now more than 900 on the frontline recruited – so doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, paramedics. I’ve outlined some of that in my opening remarks, so more than 900, and that’s a net figure of 167 as of yesterday – as of today, actually. That’s the latest information. So there’ll be more on the frontline this time next year than we have today. In terms of adding to that answer, I will pass to the acting secretary.
Mr WEBSTER – Thanks, minister, and through you. We don’t have a targeted number of FTE, in fact we have a plan to increase our FTE over the forward estimates because of the demand across our hospital system, there are a number of initiatives that have been given to us by government. We actually project that we will actually increase in FTE over the forward estimates.
Yes, there will be some realignment and there might be, you know, less in this policy team and those – and more in the hospitals, but we will work through that by redeployment over the time, and that is some of our – most of our challenge, in fact, is taking, if you like, our casual employment, which are locums and agency nurses, and turning them into permanent roles. You get the same number of FTE for a lot less money if we can achieve that. We would target around a 50 per cent saving in that space.
Ms O’CONNOR – Thank you, Mr Webster. I feel like it is déjà vu all over again, because I keep hearing the same thing at Estimates tables, about how Health is going to make massive savings that are demanded of it. But perhaps so that we have got a database to work from, would it be possible to have workforce numbers across the Tasmania Health Service, full-time equivalent and headcount from 30 March 2019 to date by year, broken down by profession: doctors and surgeons, nurses, midwives, paramedics and allied health. And then subsequent to that, would it be possible to have staff absences and sick days by month and year from 1 July 2019 to date?
Mr BARNETT – Well, let’s just go –
CHAIR – And are you happy to take that on notice?
Mr BARNETT – Well, no, no. I would like to answer the question. I will just see if the acting secretary will work through that. We have got lots of answers for the committee. We are well-prepared.
Mr WEBSTER – Sorry –
Mr BARNETT – So we will just break it down to start with, the first numbers.
Mr WEBSTER – So through you, minister, I don’t have them March to March, but I have them June to June.
Ms O’CONNOR – June 2019 to date?
Mr BARNETT – Yes.
Mr WEBSTER – Yes. Sorry, through –
Ms O’CONNOR – From what date, 30 June? Is that 30 June?
Mr WEBSTER – As at 30 June 2019, and then 30 June each year since then.
Ms O’CONNOR – Okay.
Mr WEBSTER – And breaking them down: allied health, 1088.51 in 2019.
Ms O’CONNOR – Yes.
Mr WEBSTER – Do you want year by year or just the –
Ms O’CONNOR – Yes, please. Year by year.
Mr WEBSTER – Yes. Then 1121.46 in – I’m sorry, I’ll go back. That first figure I gave you was 30 June 2020, so I am going back one more year. 1042.03 for allied health in 2019, 1088.51 in 2020, 1121.46 in 2021, 1203.27 in 2022, 1281.47 in 2023, and 1342.54 in 2024.
Ms O’CONNOR – Paramedics?
Mr WEBSTER – Ambulance this is.
Ms O’CONNOR – Ambulance, yes.
Mr WEBSTER – So 2019, 423.04.
Ms O’CONNOR – Okay.
Mr WEBSTER – 2020, 487.37. 2021, 542.87. 2022, 575.91. 2023, 545.13. And 2024, 562.85.
Ms O’CONNOR – A bit of a decline there, but yes. Midwives? Oh, nurses. We’ll just do nurses.
Mr WEBSTER – Nurses 2019, 4025.51. 2020, 4229.08. 2021, 4466.48. 2022, 4764.78. 2023, 4931.94. And 2024, 5138.72.
Ms O’CONNOR – And finally doctors and surgeons.
Mr WEBSTER – So through you, minister, I can’t split off surgeons, but I can do –
Ms O’CONNOR – Just doctors.
Mr WEBSTER – Okay. Well, I have doctors across three categories. The two main ones, salaried medical practitioners: 2019, 1056.87. 2020 – sorry, I will go back again. I have missed a year. 2019 is 991.74, 2020 is 1056.87. 2021 is 1140.91. 2022 is 1201.88. 2023 is 1236.81, and 2024 is 1350.2. And then visiting medical practitioners, which is a separate category, and I would say that a VMP, the maximum hours per week is 18 hours. There is a lot more than –
Ms O’CONNOR – Yes, well, I don’t need those.
Mr WEBSTER – Okay.
CHAIR – Thank you.
Ms O’CONNOR – Could we please put the staff absences and sick days on notice? Even though it is something that could be read out to the committee, it is also something that could be provided.
CHAIR – Or table them, if you have such a table? I am mindful that we are in the overview here.
Ms ARMITAGE – And if you could add in Worker’s Comp it would be really useful as well.
Mr BARNETT – Well, let’s be clear what the question is, Chair, and then we can consider how we can assist the committee.
CHAIR – The question is –
Ms O’CONNOR – I am looking for data on staff absences and sick days by month and year from 1 July 2019 to date.
Mr BARNETT – Well, I am not sure about by month, but certainly by year I am sure we could assist the committee.
Mr WEBSTER – Yes, we can.
Mr BARNETT – You know, this just takes a lot of time and effort.
Ms O’CONNOR – I understand that.
Mr BARNETT – You know, certainly by year, I am sure we could do that.
Ms O’CONNOR – It is certainly data THS would have.
Mr BARNETT – Yes, well, that’s right, and we do want to assist the committee.
CHAIR – And does that include worker’s comp?
Mr WEBSTER – Through you, minister, we are just having a look. The one we have will assist.
CHAIR – Okay.
Mr WEBSTER – That’s the first question. The second one –
Mr BARNETT – Can we take it on notice?
CHAIR – Yes, we will take the worker’s comp –
Mr BARNETT – We will take that on notice as well.
Ms O’CONNOR – Okay, thank you.
Mr BARNETT – But we will do it by year, if that’s all right. Then if you have more questions then let us know.
