· Labor moves no confidence motion against Michael Ferguson
· People are dying unnecessarily while Michael Ferguson does nothing
· Tasmanians need a Health Minister who cares
Tasmanians are dying unnecessarily while Health Minister Michael Ferguson fails to address the health crisis.
Labor Leader Rebecca White today moved a no confidence motion in Minister Ferguson, citing his many failures to fix the catastrophic state of Tasmania’s health and hospital system.
“While Michael Ferguson boasts about what a great job he’s doing for Tasmanian hospitals, doctors have said that people are dying unnecessarily in our hospitals and in our community,” Ms White said.
“Michael Ferguson doesn’t listen to the experts, he doesn’t listen to the community and he has shown time and time again that he won’t step in to fix the mess he has created.
“We have seen patients dying in the corridors of the hospital, the tragic case of a woman suffering a miscarriage in a chair in the waiting room and severe mental health patients trapped in ED because there are no psychiatric ward beds.
“Michael Ferguson claimed he has fixed ambulance ramping but these rates are up 500 percent in the last three years. That is almost 8000 hours where ambulances are stuck on hospital ramps due to a lack of beds and not out in the community where they can do their jobs.
“Most recent data shows the number of patients waiting for elective surgery has grown by nearly 3,000 to more than 9,000 in just the past 12 months.
“31,000 Tasmanians are on the waiting list for a specialist appointment. But still it’s not Michael Ferguson’s fault.
“Even the Government’s own reports have told them – in black and white – that there is a $100 million funding black hole in the Tasmanian health system every single year.
“Yet the Government’s Revised Estimates Report confirms that they are forecasting to spend $15 million LESS on health next year.
“Labor has for years called on the Minister to admit there is a crisis and to invest properly in our health system. I wrote to the Premier six months ago with 10 policy proposals that could alleviate the crisis but this has been ignored.
“When Parliament passed a Labor motion calling on the Government to hold crisis roundtable discussions with health professionals, community leaders and all sides of politics, what did the Government do? Nothing.
“Michael Ferguson will never give our hospitals and health system what they need to sufficiently take care of the community. The Premier must replace him with a Health Minister who cares and is committed to fixing this crisis.”
Rebecca White MP
Labor Leader
