More questions than answers on Labor’s Health PR Campaign

Questions are rightly being asked about Labor’s health announcements – how they plan to fund them and where are they going to magically find the staff they are promising?

Questions for Labor:

1. Labor has announced support for HELP debts for rural health workers who then work in rural and regional areas. This policy is a replica of the existing Commonwealth program. How will their policy differ, and why will taxpayers pay for a policy already on offer and paid for by the Commonwealth?
2. Labor promises $28.4 million over the next four years to employ more than 200 additional staff. This plan is under-costed and wouldn’t even fund 200 workers for 365 days. What services are they going to cut to pay for their $10 million black hole each year?
3. They have also only provided funding for one year. Are they going to give these staff job certainty and fund the additional positions in future years or are they going to sack them like they did when they were last in Government?
4. Labor says they will employ 18 rural generalists and 90 nurse practitioners in rural and regional areas. They will take at least 6-8 years to graduate, and under their costings, they will be paying nurse practitioners well below the national award wage. What’s their plan in the meantime? Are they going to pull them out of our major hospitals?
5. Labor is claiming there is no need to find the funds to establish 24/7 emergency departments in every regional hospital as they “will pay for itself.” The only way this would pay for itself is if they closed actual Emergency Departments in major public hospitals. Which one do they propose closing?
6. Labor says they will expand the Deloraine District Hospital to provide 24/7 emergency care at the hospital. How much will this cost and how will it be funded? What is the clinical governance? How will they meet accreditation standards? How much on-call and overtime is needed to fund these?

Labor is trying to hoodwink Tasmanians with media announcements not backed with real plans.

In contrast, the Liberal Government continues to invest in rural and regional health services across the State:

• $14.9 million for 42 new paramedics deployed in rural and regional areas;
• $12 million for the new St Helen’s District Hospital;
• $10.5 million for Stage 2 of the Redevelopment of King Island District Hospital;
• $5 million for new equipment;
• $3.4 million for additional staff;
• $18.7 million for a safe staffing model for all rural hospitals;
• $9 million to upgrade equipment and provide for new fleet across Ambulance Tasmania; and
• $4.3 million to establish our Rural Medical Workforce Centre.