Jeremy Rockliff,Minister for Health
The Health Dashboard update, released today, shows while there are some encouraging improvements, we are continuing to see demand increase at our public hospitals and in our health system.
Tasmanian emergency departments have seen patients continuing to present in above average numbers leading to impacts on the length of stay, with more than half of patients spending more than four hours in the ED. Our EDs are also impacted by how the whole hospital system is functioning, which is why it is important we have the right level of community care available and we get people home from hospital as soon as it is safe to do so.
The Government has invested heavily to increase the number of beds available to hospitals to manage health demand, and more than 50 additional permanent hospital beds will be opened across the State in 2021 to help meet demand and to support the Government's elective surgery commitments.
The latest data for July shows some encouraging improvements to the elective surgery waiting list, reducing from a record high of 12,265 in January 2021, to 11,007 in July 2021, a decrease of 1258 people.
Our record elective surgery program will ensure even more patients can get the surgery they need within the clinically recommended time 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 we can get the wait list to a more sustainable level.
There are now 55,506 outpatients on the waiting list, which represents a minor decrease of 175 from June 2021.
While COVID-19 restrictions have had an impact, I acknowledge this is still too many and we are implementing a range of initiatives to improve the management of outpatient waiting lists and access to outpatient clinics.
This includes:
- Using telehealth for outpatient appointments for some specialities, which has helped improve access to services and reduced the need for patients to travel, particularly from rural and remote areas;
- A more patient-friendly booking system, including SMS reminders and confirmation of appointments, which is making it easier for patients to cancel and rebook appointments and helping to reduce the number of patients who don't attend appointments; and
- Strengthening the referral process, so outpatient clinics get the right information they need, GPs are clear about the information they need to provide, and most importantly, the patient's appointment isn't delayed.
Ambulance Tasmania has maintained a median 14.4 minute response time into July, with the number of incidents up to 7,684, which is at its highest level for the past 12 months. We are continuing to roll out Secondary Triage, which sees trained paramedics and nurses providing clinical advice to Triple Zero callers, including connecting them to other health services where appropriate.
The July Dashboard data reflects the heavy impact COVID-19 has had on oral health services last year when there was a period of emergency only services. The Government's one-off $5 million commitment to provide an additional 20,000 dental appointment will assist in addressing this.
The 2021-22 Tasmanian Budget, announced yesterday, increases investment in health to $10.7 billion, which is $900 million more than last year's budget. This additional funding will make a significant difference to our health system, and the health and wellbeing of Tasmanians.
The Tasmanian Liberal Government is committed to providing Tasmanians with the right care, in the right place, at the right time, which is why we are investing even more into the system, recruiting an additional 280 FTE staff, increasing services and providing care in the community where appropriate.
