Today marks another important turning point in the future of Tasmania’s health system – the merging of three regional health bureaucracies into one, unified Tasmanian Health Service.
The Hodgman Liberal Government has this week released the White Paper outlining how better health services can be safely and sustainably delivered for all Tasmanians.
The THS, whose Governing Council is meeting for the first time today, will be the organisation responsible for implementing the important changes in the White Paper which will help us fix the broken health system we have now.
Chaired by experienced health administrator John Ramsay, the nine-member Governing Council delivers an outstanding mix of clinical and corporate skills, and has an even regional representation with three members each from the North, South and North-West.
As the Governing Council is discussing at their first meeting today, their immediate priorities include preparing a full implementation plan for the White Paper by the end of September, finalising recruitment of the THS CEO, and consolidating management, administrative and corporate functions from the three regional THOs to provide efficiencies which will be reinvested back into frontline health.
It is very pleasing that as of today we move away from a system that didn’t work – three different regional bureaucracies with separate Governing Councils, different CEOs and management teams, and differing priorities and services for patients.
The Liberal Government’s health reforms are all aimed at creating One Health System for all Tasmanians, offering better services which all Tasmanians have equal access to.
That’s why we consulted extensively on the preparation of the White Paper, and matched the commitment to fixing the broken health system with an additional $100 million for frontline health in the recent State Budget, along with $24 million in new funding for patient transport and accommodation.
While there will be ongoing consolidation of management, corporate and administrative functions in the THS over the coming months, I am pleased to say that from day one there is strong leadership with all staff reporting through to the interim CEO and the regional management teams.
It is of course a priority to ensure that while administrative and corporate functions are consolidated, health services continue to be delivered without interruption and with a smooth transition to the new system outlined in the White Paper.
I would like to once again thank our fantastic medical professionals, nurses, allied health staff and all health staff for their continuing dedication to putting patients first, a focus which under our reforms will be matched by the system itself.