Minister again in Labor’s sights
LABOR has seized upon an admission by Premier Will Hodgman that the state’s health system is underperforming to renew calls for the sacking of Health Minister Michael Ferguson.
The Premier’s concession that the heath system was “far from good enough” was welcomed by the state’s top doctor’s group, but Labor’s Sarah Lovell said it was time for Mr Ferguson to go.
“We heard an admission from the Premier Will Hodgman that the Tasmanian health system is not good enough, that the Minister for Health is not doing a good enough job, the system is not meeting the needs of Tasmanians,” she said yesterday.
“This is what Labor have been saying for a number of months now and what the Premier now has to acknowledge is that the fish rots from the head.
“It is the health minister who must take responsibility for these failings of the health system and it’s the Premier who must step him aside and appoint a health minister who will take health seriously, who will commit to funding health properly and who will deliver a health system that will meet the needs of Tasmanians.”
Australian Medical Association president John Davis said doctors stood ready to help, but critical shortcomings needed to be addressed.
“Building this new section of the hospital has taken a toll,” he said.
“Bed block and Department of Emergency Medicine ramping and higher elective surgery lists are the evidence of the pain we are going through, this must not be in vain, we must use the new facilities to their best advantage and be ready for the ever-increasing demand on our health system.”
“The capacity of our public hospitals to meet reasonable community demand for acute and subacute inpatient services is being overwhelmed, in no small part, because of old, inadequate and superseded infrastructure,” Dr Davis said.
A government spokesman said Mr Hodgman retained confidence in Mr Ferguson: “The Premier simply acknowledged that despite record investment in our health system there are challenges that remain, he also made it clear that the Government is committed to addressing them ... for Labor to try and play childish games with the Premier’s words once again shows they have nothing to offer.”