Jeremy Rockliff,Minister for Health
It is vital we all work together to implement solutions to the challenges in health, to ensure Tasmanians get the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
Collaboration requires the sharing of information, as well as ideas. As an initial step to improving the transparency and currency of health information, the next Health Dashboard, which will be released on Friday, will show data for March, April and May. From then on, the Dashboard will be released monthly, meaning in late July, data for June will be made publicly available.
I’m advised the Dashboard will show some encouraging improvements to the elective surgery waitlist, and importantly, since January, the number of patients waiting beyond clinically recommended times has decreased by 14 per cent.
However, we must always strive to do better, behind every number is a person requiring care.
That’s why we are delivering a record elective surgery blitz so even more patients get the surgery they need within the clinically recommended time. We will deliver an additional 22,300 elective surgeries and endoscopies and I’m advised an elective surgery plan is currently under development, in line with our First 100 Days Plan.
Increasing elective surgery is part of the Gutwein Liberal Government’s clear plan to secure Tasmania’s future by continuing to invest more in health.
We have already begun recruiting for another of our key commitments to recruit an additional 280 full-time equivalent staff to support new and boosted services across Tasmania.
We have also established a new Health Staff Recruitment Taskforce with health stakeholders, including unions, to look at how we improve recruitment across our health system. I was pleased to be able to attend the first meeting last week.
Proposals have been received and are currently being assessed for private hospitals to better support our public hospitals to manage demand, which is a $20 million election commitment.
We are working hard to achieve the best outcomes for Tasmanians, and we know working collaboratively is the only way to do that, which is why I have been engaging closely with unions and other stakeholders in my first few weeks as Minister for Health.
I consider being Health Minister a privilege and I am firmly focused on delivering better healthcare for all Tasmanians.
