Preventive health

From: The Examiner, Tasmania, Australia

PEOPLE will always be passionate about health, and this will either come in the form of praise or a backlash. The Examiner has a responsibility to share both sides – based on the merit of news value. To determine news value is to identify what matters to our readers and the region.

In the past 12 months we have published extensive series on preventive health, Donate Life, research projects from Clifford Craig and key achievements from staff and departments within health.

We have told the stories that stakeholders would probably rather we don’t focus on. This has included hospital accreditation, recruitment of specialists, locum costs and air-conditioning issues in summer.

Most recently, the focus of our attention has been on mental health and the emergency department. The campaign to improve in-patient capacity at the Launceston General Hospital was first raised in March 2018. In July this was escalated to a vigil outside of the emergency department by the union.

On Tuesday, this again was ramped up to include shirts, badges and information handed to the public. Thankfully, on Wednesday the Health Department acknowledged the concerns in the form of additional funding for the emergency department.

But more needs to be done to stop people from having to be admitted to hospital in the first place. We must look at long-term investment in health, not just short-term fixes. Yes, the additional funding and budgeted upgrades for the LGH are necessary, but more could be done in the prevention sphere.

Fingers crossed, we will now see improvement in our emergency department due to adequate resourcing to correct the issues, and we can continue to improve mental health services and communication between those involved in providing treatment. Hopefully, then, there will be a stronger emphasis on preventive health in the near future.