The latest Health Dashboard update includes data reflecting the lead up to the busy winter period.
Pleasingly, there has been a reduction in mental health readmissions and a decrease in waiting lists for oral health and outpatients.
Ambulance response times have also remained stable over the course of the quarter.
But we know demand for surgeries and acute services is increasing, and that is why we are investing record amounts into improving our health system in the immediate and long-term future.
This rising demand is being reflected in the elective surgery waiting list.
To help meet this demand, we have delivered $20 million of extra funding in this year’s Budget to ensure we can perform more surgeries. We are also investing additional funding into elective surgery through our women’s health package, which will deliver up to 900 additional procedures over the next two years, specifically targeting women who have waited the longest for their elective surgery.
While demand is increasing, it is important to note that the percentage of elective surgery patients being seen within a clinically recommended time remains stable at 70 per cent.
There is always more to do and we will continue to deliver our plan to build a better health system, based on providing the right care, in the right place, at the right time, to make Tasmanians’ lives better.
The Government will continue to invest record amounts into health so we can open more beds, recruit more staff and build the facilities our system needs to expand.
The Health Dashboard was released at midday today and is available at www.healthstats.dhhs.tas.gov.au.