With a record boost to health funding to meet significant extra patient demand we need to work together to quickly and safely open additional beds.
I am pleased to announce today that the Government will establish a New Beds Implementation Team, to ensure every effort is made to open new beds and ensure people get the care they need sooner at the Royal Hobart Hospital.
The Government understands that our hospitals are under pressure particularly in the South, which is why we have boosted health funding by a massive $658 million which will support 106 new beds and 350 more staff across the State.
This includes $76.6 million of recurrent funding to address Emergency Department pressures at the RHH, as well as $7 million of capital works at the Repatriation Hospital.
Now that the funding is in the Budget our priority is on employing new staff and getting these beds open as soon as possible.
The Implementation Team will comprise officers from the Tasmanian Health Service and Department of Health and Human Services, with support from the Department of Premier and Cabinet, and will be responsible for expediting the opening of new beds in southern Tasmania funded in Budget.
This is a very significant project, which will include large scale recruitment of health professionals, the need for clinical engagement and planning, capital works in busy hospital sites and other complex issues to be addressed.
The Team will also work to support the new a THS Statewide Operations and Command Centre to deliver better care.
The Implementation Team will establish a professional reference group, similar to the one that supported the Royal Hobart Hospital Rescue Taskforce, to work with important stakeholders on the challenges we face and how they can be overcome.
Membership of the Implementation Team and professional reference group will be finalised in coming days, and regular public communiques will be released as the Implementation Team delivers its important work.
We have listened to patients and hospital staff by providing the funding needed to employ more hospital staff and open more beds, we are now taking action to implement these measures as quickly as possible.
It's important to remember that while the RHH Redevelopment is causing short-term issues, it will mean a new state-of-the-art health facility with capacity for an additional 250-beds when completed in 2019.