Michael Ferguson,Minister for Health
Yesterday, the Tasmanian head of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine called for an end to the blame games in health.
Despite this, and in the very same week the Government and ACEM are getting all the key stakeholders in a room to discuss solutions, Labor is determined to continue playing politics.
I explained in great detail during the Estimates Committee, which Sarah Lovell was on, that there are now 50 more clinics included in the outpatients waiting list that weren't previously included – these clinics equate to nearly 5,000 more patients that wouldn't have been counted under Labor.
Ms Lovell and Labor know all this, and still continue with this destructive, blaming narrative.
It is incredibly disingenuous for Ms Lovell to be using our improved reporting system to just play more lazy politics.
Waiting times have come down significantly since we first released the outpatients data in 2014, but we know there is still a lot to do.
That's why we will continue to work with clinicians and health stakeholders who are also focused on solutions.
