Health cash needed now
THE health portfolio is a daunting one for any minister, not just in Tasmania. Sarah Courtney came into the role in June showing a willingness to listen and to learn and has spent a lot of time speaking to those on the frontlines of the health system. To her credit, she has put a lot of work into listening. She has heard from the doctors, nurses, ambulance officers, from emergency physicians, the Australian Medical Association and the health sector unions. She has the benefit of the experience gained by her predecessor in the role, Michael Ferguson. She has made changes to key staff, such as the department secretary. Four months is a good length of time for a new minister to get a feel for a portfolio and to start to put their stamp on things.
Ms Courtney last week demonstrated her mettle by promptly dealing with issues raised by junior doctors, concerns that had the potential to escalate into a staff exodus. She quickly organised for senior bureaucrats to meet with the doctors, then followed up in person to address their concerns before ensuring that the outcome was communicated to the public. It was an example of effective ministerial leadership.
As the Mercury reports today, the health system has consistently cost more to run than the current Government budgets for. The Government continually points to increased demand as a source of many of the woes in the system, but that steadily
HEALTH IS THE LARGEST SEGMENT OF THE STATE BUDGET, A MASSIVE ENTERPRISE, AND ONE IN WHICH CHANGE COMES SLOWLY.
increasing demand should no longer come as a surprise for the health minister of the day, and is surely not a revelation to our experienced Treasurer Peter Gutwein.
There is some relief in sight for the Government and, more importantly, for the patients and staff of the Tasmanian health system. The additional money being pumped into the struggling ambulance service should hopefully soon start to make a difference with the well-known problems there. And although the exact opening date is still anyone’s guess, the Royal Hobart Hospital’s new K-Block and the 44 extra beds it offers should help ease the hospital crisis sometime in the new year. Health is the largest segment of the state budget, a massive enterprise, and one in which change comes slowly. The portfolio currently consumes nearly one-third of the state budget and rising, it is expected to reach 40 per cent by 2033-34. While there is no room for inefficiency, there is also patently no room either for cuts.
The formulation of next year’s state budget — which will be handed down on June 4 — is well under way. Now is the time for Ms Courtney to ease Mr Gutwein’s grip on the purse strings. Tasmanians have a right to expect that the health budget reflects the actual costs of running the health system (rather than Treasury’s aspirations) along with some extra to get ahead of the demand increase. Bringing forward money to open some of the 250 extra beds the Government has promised would help in this respect.
None but the blindest of optimists would expect that all the challenges of the health system will be fixed by one person. But we are entitled to expect that this minister can at least move our health system off its constant crisis footing. Getting the health budget right is a good step on that path.
Responsibility for all editorial comment is taken by the Editor, Chris Jones, Level 1, 2 Salamanca Square, Hobart, TAS, 7000