The Government is concerned that industrial action being demanded by ANMF union bosses to try to ban all elective surgery at the Mersey Community Hospital from 1 January 2019 will prevent Tasmanians from receiving healthcare in their local community.
Such ‘industrial action’ is not acceptable action and will not be accepted by the Government.
In coming days, patients will receive letters with booking dates for their surgery and we call on the ANMF to ensure patients get the care they need.
The Government understands that Tasmania’s nurses are the backbone of our health service and believes they deserve a pay rise, and the Government and ANMF are in active negotiations to reach an agreement.
By providing a fair, reasonable and affordable six per cent pay rise over three years, we ensure wages keep pace with inflation, while also enabling the Government to employ even more front line staff so we can further improve patient care.
We will need these extra staff to meet increasing demand on our health service, with Tasmania experiencing the highest increase in Emergency Department presentations of any state or territory last financial year.
We are investing and we’ll keep investing – since March this year, the Government has recruited more than 200 additional health staff, including 130 full-time equivalent nurses and 20 doctors.
Importantly, we are on track to deliver our long-term plan for health, as well as providing immediate and short-term solutions. This includes our record $757 million over the next five-and-a-half years to open nearly 300 new hospital beds and recruit 1,300 additional health staff and new services.
The Hodgman Liberal Government is building Tasmania’s future, working so that all Tasmanians can receive the right health care, in the right place, at the right time.
