Tasmania can’t afford the $700 million worth of cuts Premier Rockliff has tasked Eric Abetz with making to the health system.
New Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data shows that Tasmanians presenting to emergency departments with mental health issues are already forced to wait longer than almost anywhere else in the country.
The median wait in Tasmania is 48 minutes – more than twice the national median, which is 20 minutes. Just 35 per cent of Tasmanian mental health patients are now seen on time, down from 64 per cent a decade ago.
Experienced allied health positions are being downgraded when they become vacant, with psychologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and social workers increasingly being replaced with cheaper, more junior staff.
Clinicians say this will blow out waiting lists, reduce patient care and force experienced staff away from patients to supervise junior workers.
Meanwhile, the Liberals are continuing on with the waste that led to this point, hiring a manager, to report to another manager, to manage a team whose job includes managing the Government’s relations with itself – all while their own non-essential hiring freeze continues across the state service.
After 13 years of Liberal waste Premier Rockliff has put Eric Abetz in charge of cutting jobs and services to pay for it.
Despite every health expert saying the exact opposite, the Treasurer continues to pretend that the health system can withstand $700 million worth of cuts, and it’s Tasmanians who will pay the ultimate price.
