Health the big issue for Tassie

HEALTH issues top the concerns of voters across the state, with an exclusive Mercury ReachTEL poll revealing that Tasmanian residents are more worried about medical care than jobs, education or the economy.

The survey of 2696 residents revealed 30.7 per cent of Tasmanians nominated health services as the most important issue to them and their families, from a list that also included crime and safety, the environment and same-sex marriage.

Health came out on top across the five Tasmanian electorates but was most pronounced in Braddon where just short of 40 per cent of respondents named it their most pressing concern.

Across the age groups, health appears increasingly important to older Tasmanians, with 42.6 per cent of those aged 65-plus rating it their top concern, compared with the 18-34 cohort (23.9 per cent) whose top issue was jobs.

And the poll revealed a sharp divide between the genders — 35.3 per cent of women labelled health their biggest issue but only a quarter of men agreed.

For men, employment was the top issue.

Australian Medical Association state president Tim Greenaway said given the recent publicity about the overhaul of the Tasmanian health system and Royal Hobart Hospital rebuild, community interest in how health services were delivered should not be seen as a surprise.

Dr Greenaway said the Tasmanian community was looking to be reassured that, despite the challenges the state faced with its older and more rural population, it would receive the same standard of care that was available in the rest of the nation.

“It’s quite understandable that people are concerned about the effects of the restructuring of the public hospitals, particularly in relation to equity and access,” he said.

“It’s clear that one of the tasks of government as well as those who work in the health sector is to educate — and communicate with — the public about the reasons that we need to change.

“Because while it has been well publicised that we have problems related to waiting times for elective surgery and overcrowding in the public system, I think we need to explain to the public rather better than we have done that we can’t continue to run four public hospitals in a state of 515,000 people.”

Chief executive of the Smithton-based Rural Health Tasmania Robert Waterman said there was a worrying gap between the information provided to health services and that received by the general public.

Mr Waterman said that when there was a lack of information, it raised concern among residents, particularly those in high-need areas such the North-West Coast.

“Tasmania’s got the worst drug problem in Australia, and has one in four youth who are going to experience a mental health issue, so health is on a lot of people’s radars,” he said, adding that he would have preferred to see education higher up the list of concern.