Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Health spokesperson
Following last night’s damning national exposé of avoidable deaths in Tasmanian hospitals, Premier Will Hodgman continues to falsely claim his government has not cut the Health Budget. Instead, unbelievably, he claims they have increased health spending.
Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Health spokesperson
The enforced reduction of casual and permanent part-time nurses’ shift hours is the next frontline health cut under the Liberals’ efficiency dividend. It follows from the recent requirement for Royal Hobart Hospital surgeons to slash 15% of people needing elective surgeries from their waiting lists.
Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Health spokesperson
Health Minister, Michael Ferguson, was continually warned that the current resourcing of general admission wards at the Royal Hobart and Launceston General hospitals is far short of what was needed to cope with the winter patient burden.
Minister Ferguson ignored nurses, doctors, infectious disease specialists and health economists' warnings about the flu season and winter rush. The state's hospitals are running on empty and he's claiming that's business as usual.
Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Health spokesperson
The government’s proposal to limit nursing shifts to a maximum of 12 hours, except in exceptional circumstances, will do nothing to improve the amount of double-shifts being worked around the state.
Minister Ferguson hasn’t put any more money into the nursing pool, which means “exceptional circumstances” will occur on a regular basis unless the Minister is planning to leave hospital beds unstaffed.
Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Health spokesperson
The THS has had an interim CEO in place for more than four months, and the recruitment process for the permanent CEO is still not finalised. The government needs to tell us what's taking so long and why it's cost so much.
The government’s glacial pace of health recruitment appears to be poor value for money. They've spent over $100,000 so far on the recruitment process for two senior health positions.
This is $100,000 that could been paid for two graduate nurses in our understaffed hospitals.
Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Health spokesperson
Launceston General Hospital patients are once more feeling the brunt of the government's health cuts.
Elective surgery waiting times at the LGH have increased by nearly 50% since the Liberal government took over the health system.
Minister Ferguson has had plenty of time to deal with this problem and it is fixable.
Opening closed beds by permanently employing more nurses is an urgently needed investment.
