The Liberal Government is committed to putting patients back where they belong – at the forefront of decision making in health.
Over the past 10 weeks we have held very positive and productive discussions with clinicians and the community from all around the state on how we can fix the broken health system and ensure all Tasmanians have access to better services.
Consultation on the Green Paper has shown that almost without exception Tasmanians know the health system is letting them down and needs to change, despite the best efforts and professionalism of our health workforce.
We have heard many stories of people being left in pain and discomfort because they have been on waiting lists for treatment for years. Every week in our hospitals Tasmanians get adverse outcomes from treatment which can be directly attributed to issues caused by longer than acceptable waits, inefficiency, duplication, and in many cases services not being available when and where they should be.
A constant theme is the need to get the health system working together on a statewide basis, which will allow the safer delivery of complex, high acuity services, as well as better access to specialists regardless of where you live in Tasmania.
We continue to acknowledge the importance of critical care services continuing to be available in each region for emergency medical situations.
With the overwhelming support for change, the next step in improving the system is for the Government to take all the feedback we have had and develop an exposure draft of the health reform White Paper.
This exposure draft will clearly outline the Government's proposals to fix the system, including a Role Delineation Framework and Clinical Services Profile, and will be based on the evidence we have received on where services can safely be provided to deliver the best possible outcomes for all Tasmanians.
The exposure draft will be released in late March and will be open for public comment for three months before being finalised and released in July 2015. A further round of public forums will be held following the release of the exposure draft to continue the consultation process.
This means that the Government is showing an even greater determination to work with clinicians and the community on the basis of trust and a shared commitment to fixing the broken health system.
The Government and the community have approached the consultation to date in an open and honest way which has produced tremendous insight into how we can deliver better outcomes for Tasmanians. The release of an exposure draft will allow this conversation to continue and give the community and clinicians the ongoing opportunity to have input as specific proposals are developed.
We have listened to Tasmanians through the consultation so far and people have asked for the opportunity to see the Government's proposals and have further opportunity to provide input.
A further round of public forums will also be held to continue the consultation process.
The Government remains absolutely committed to our position that no hospitals will be closed.
All of our hospitals, including the Mersey Community Hospital, are a crucial part of our health system going forward. We are working closely with the Commonwealth to put in place agreement to secure funding for the operation of the hospital, and the services it delivers, into the future.