Labor’s Mediscare tactics around neurology services are aimed at causing maximum fear in the community and need to stop.
The fact is the recruitment of two neurologists at the LGH comes after decades of neurology drought in the North, having between zero and one practitioner.
It means access to services for North and North-West patients will be massively improved as these neurologists will be able to function as a unit, rather than sole practitioners.
This is a huge, historic service boost for the North and North-West and a real win for the local community - the first time ever that there will be this level of permanent service provided in the North.
Dr Lee Archer will commence seeing patients at the LGH in just one month’s time – on 21 January 2019.
In the meantime, there will continue to be locum coverage provided at the LGH to ensure ongoing care is available for patients.
We will not stop working hard and listening to what our frontline staff and health stakeholders are telling us, which is that they want less politics in health and more focus on outcomes.
The Hodgman Liberal Government never wants to see any Tasmanian waiting too long for the care they need, and everybody knows that recruiting specialist clinicians is a challenge nationally, especially for smaller jurisdictions like Tasmania.
Labor is all for pointing out the problems but are light-on when it comes to delivering solutions and supporting successful recruitment campaigns like this one.
Northern Tasmanians will never forget the three years Labor spent without recruiting a single neurologist for the North*, during which time outpatient waiting lists blew out.
* https://www.examiner.com.au/story/83051/specialist-training-defended/