Time to talk about the Mersey
HEALTH SYSTEM
WITH the continued outcry from the community about health services not being up to standard through the Liberal Hodgman Government (and its Labor predecessor) the question needs to be asked, should the Mersey Hospital at Latrobe be considerably downsized and funding transferred? Healthscope, a private provider, was running this hospital under contract to the state government and was allowed to terminate its agreement five years early. In 2007 the federal government provided $730 million to allow the state government to administer the hospital for 10 years. It would appear now is the time to address the funding priorities and health plan for Tasmania.
Burnie, Launceston and Hobart should be the main centres, with a downsized Mersey and several district hospitals. It’s understood a new district hospital will be finished this year at St Helens. I hear there is only one local GP in St Helens with four locums flown from Victoria. We need to employ more staff and not costly locums. Several years ago, many newly qualified nurses failed to be offered positions, with most having to find positions on the mainland. For the Government to say we have 250 unoccupied nursing positions is a little puzzling and bereft of planning. eral practitioner advocating GPs provide services out of normal hours to include weekends. This just makes so much sense and ultimately would help greatly in easing the burden on the already overstretched ED at the RHH.
Simple solution
CONTINUALLY using ramped ambulances as de facto Emergency Department beds reveals the shameful inadequacy of the Minister for Health and the bureaucrats who advise him. The problem is decades of economic rationalist dogma that has caused hospital beds numbers to be reduced in the face of steadily rising demand. The solution is simple — find many more beds and staff them!
Work together
AFTER reading Martyn Goddard’s article I think how sad but how true, and then how angry I am (“No end in sight as we slide from bad to worse”, Talking Point, October 25). Please Liberal and Labor show you have a mature side and start working together to address the health crisis. Work out long and short-term strategies together. The bipartisan approach. Radical concept to your ears, but the only way to prevent either party blaming the other. This has not happened overnight, this has been going on for many, many years, and blaming each other has not solved the issue. It is both parties’ responsibility for the poor outcomes we experience today. Tasmanians are dying preventable deaths, are suffering chronic Talking Point: Tassie maths scores don’t add up Yes and why? Because there is a huge shortage of qualified maths and science teachers in the country. pain for years unnecessarily, and I suspect becoming addicted to painkiller mediations. For goodness’ sake forget your political position and think about the community you are supposed to represent and care about. I am totally over each party blaming the other, and I am sure many others are as well.
Emergency priorities
I HAVE been a patient at the Royal Hobart Hospital on many occasions due to my heart and have been looked after 100 per cent by ambulance, staff and doctors. Why was John Edis in Creek Rd sold off? Surely some people at the Royal should be seeing a GP. I thought the Royal was for stroke/ heart patients and car accidents.
Get to grips
FIVE years after the Liberal Government was elected, Minister Michael Ferguson is still trying to blame problems on Labor. We have had promises of extra beds, increased staffing and hundreds of millions of extra funding, but nothing seems to be getting better. The Royal Hobart emergency department is always overcrowded, there are never enough beds and the ambulances are still ramped outside! There are no reports of this in Sydney and Melbourne, so it must be bad management, underfunding or both. It is high time the Premier followed the advice of Sue Hickey, and reviewed how they are failing to meet the expectations of Tasmanians.
Trusting China
MR Bailey, how do we learn to trust a country that right now interns a group of its citizens twice the size of Tasmania’s population (Talking Point, October 25)?
Sideshows rally
THE Hobart show as an agricultural show is dying. Sideshows seem to be predominant. The Hobart Vintage Machinery Society, once again, staged an excellent display of agricultural machinery.
Bullocks, not ferrets
YES, authenticity is an important key to success for agricultural shows (Editorial, October 26). Perhaps then ferret racing of a high biosecurity risk species for Tasmania is not an ideal choice for the Royal Hobart Show. Let’s instead see traditional bullock teams and Clydesdale horses showcasing our much-loved authentic Tasmanian agricultural heritage.
Wind and tide
LABOR MP David O’Byrne blames the Government for problems with the docking of the Bruny Island ferries due to wind and tide. I’m sure Will Hodgman will gleefully take this as a compliment because even King Canute was not able to control the tide.