Today's DHHS quarterly report highlights why our plan to reform the health system is so important, with thousands of Tasmanians still waiting too long for the care they need.
Shortly after the election, we delivered on our commitment to reveal Labor's hidden waiting lists, which showed tens of thousands of Tasmanians were stuck waiting for care.
Unlike Labor, who chose to deliberately conceal the true extent of the problem, the Liberal Government will not hide from the problem we inherited.
That's why we've made the true waiting list transparent in today's DHHS December 2014 quarterly report, which shows there are 35,679 Tasmanians waiting for care, including 26,898 on outpatient lists previously hidden from the public.
This is more than five times the figure declared by Labor, which for years assured the community the waiting list was around 7,000. Some of these Tasmanians have been waiting up to 12 years for treatment.
This is nowhere near good enough and demonstrates the size of the challenge facing Tasmania – a challenge which has been exacerbated by a fragmented health system which has failed to deliver what it promised.
The status quo isn't good enough. Our health outcomes are among the worst in the country and this is why we need to have genuine reform, so we can put the needs of patients back where they belong – at the forefront of every decision.
The Liberal Government is now rebuilding our health system to deliver the care Tasmanians need and deserve and we are working with the community to create a health system we can all be proud of.
The feedback from this week's public forums on the reform process has been excellent and will help inform decisions around safety and sustainability in the White Paper to be released in March.
The DHHS quarterly report can be found at: http://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/181752/DHHS_Progress_Chart_-_December_2014.pdf