Around 7,000 additional elective surgeries will be delivered, on top of the extra 22,300 surgeries and endoscopies committed to at the State Election, thanks to a $40 million top up to be announced in Thursday’s Budget.
During the 2021 Election, we announced $120 million in funding to deliver an additional 22,300 elective surgeries and endoscopies, to bring the waiting list down to a sustainable level. That brought our elective surgery commitment to $156.4 million.
Now, we will deliver even more elective surgeries – another 7,000, on top of the 22,300 already committed, through a $40 million top up, with an allocation of $196.4 million in the 2021-22 Budget.
This will support the delivery of our four-year elective surgery plan, and a total of nearly 30,000 additional elective surgeries and endoscopies, to ensure more Tasmanians receive their surgery within clinically recommended times.
Last week, we released the Statewide Elective Surgery Four-Year Plan 2021-25, which provides a clear roadmap for the delivery of our elective surgery and endoscopy program over the next four years in a sustainable way.
By committing additional funding over a four-year period, we are enabling a longer term approach to be taken to the planning and management of elective surgery.
Importantly, our elective surgery plan is clinician led and patient focused, and will make a real difference to the waiting list.
More than 180 staff across the State are expected to support this increase in volume, including more than 112 nurses, 10 doctors and 16 allied health staff, as well as more than 40 hospital support staff.
The health and wellbeing of Tasmanians is an absolute priority for the Government, and while the latest data for June showed some encouraging improvements to the elective surgery waitlist, with a decrease of nearly 1000 people, we know there is more to do.
That’s why we are working hard to reduce the elective surgery wait list – behind every case is a person requiring care, and we must do better.
The full plan is available at https://www.health.tas.gov.au/news/2021/statewide_elective_surgery_four-year_plan