The Tasmanian majority Liberal Government is focused and working hard to deliver a plan to build a better health system for all Tasmanians.
We’ve been clear that health is a top priority, with our investment growing year on year since we came to office in 2014.
To put this into perspective, the annual 2019-20 Budget for Health was $650 million more than the Labor-Green Budget in 2013-14.
That is supporting more than 1150 additional full-time staff in our health system, with growth of 872 FTE over the last two financial years alone.
Today, we have the highest level of hospital staffing per capita of any state in Australia.
The additional staff are providing care for thousands more Tasmanians, who have increasingly complex care needs.
We recognise we must continue to meet this demand – which is why last month we announced an additional $600 million over the next four years would be invested in Tasmania’s health system.
This investment will lock in our current resourcing to address the unprecedented demand on our hospitals and will underpin improved health outcomes for our patients.
We must now look at how we make sure Tasmanians are getting the best possible outcomes from this investment, by providing the best possible care for Tasmanian patients and better supporting our thousands of hardworking staff.
We have modern hospitals, with K-Block at the Royal Hobart Hospital nearing completion with commissioning soon underway for 44 new beds and a helipad. We also have committed to building a new Emergency Department for the RHH as part of Stage Two of the redevelopment, with $91 million already in this year’s budget and design and planning work already underway.
We have an $87.3 million redevelopment and masterplan underway at the Launceston General Hospital, a $35 million Mersey Community Hospital Redevelopment being delivered, and rural and regional hospital upgrades progressing across Tasmania.
We are committed to improving health outcomes for all Tasmanians and these investments will go a long way to making life easier for both staff and patients.