The more Rebecca White tries to explain her Medihotels madness the more questions emerge.
Exactly what will be the impact of Labor’s reliance on ambulances being used to transfer patients to Medihotels?
Will Tasmanians in need of transport to hospital for life saving treatment suffer critical delays because patients are being transferred to Medihotels by ambulances?
And if private services are engaged what will be the cost to the taxpayer?
While Ms White likes to call them ‘patient transfer services’ we know what she really means is ambulances. Scott Bacon made that very clear when asked about it on radio.*
CARLTON: How will the patients get from hospital to the hotel?
BACON: Err, in an ambulance.
CARLTON: In an ambulance.
[pause]
BACON: Absolutely.
Ambulances have better things to do than take patients to hotels.
Medihotels is a failed experiment interstate, we don’t want it here in Tasmania.
Ms White has also been unable to say how many beds will need to be leased - or which hotels they will be leased from.
She has claimed hotel beds leased would need to be good value for the taxpayer – but also available in the peak tourist season (when hotels charge premium rates).
And there is no clarity on what care would be provided, how many nurses and where they would be expected to work from – the reception desk?
Every time Ms White tries to talk up her disastrous Medihotels policy, it unravels a little bit more.
*Tas Talks 1 June 2017