The Liberal government appears to be walking back its commitment on new hospital beds at the Royal Hobart Hospital, with numbers so far falling well short of what was promised.
The then Premier Will Hodgman committed in 2018 to open 298 new hospital beds statewide by 2024, including 250 at the Royal.
Later in the year - in fact, four years ago yesterday, Mr Hodgman said the 250 new beds at the Royal would happen within the Liberals' second term of government.
This clearly hasn't happened, with the current Premier and Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff telling Budget Estimates in June this year that there would be an additional 131 beds open at the Royal Hobart Hospital by the end of June.
However this figure is nowhere near the number promised by Mr Hodgman for the Liberals' second term of government, and shows they are on track to fall well short even by 2024.
The figure used by Mr Rockliff also contains an unspecified number of Hospital in the Home programs, including people living in residential aged-care facilities - not in hospital.
This is a government fudging the numbers to suit themselves, whilst failing to deliver on promises they have made throughout their time in office.
Instead of pushing ahead with their unwanted, unnecessary $750 million stadium in Hobart, the Liberals need to get on with delivering the basics right across our healthcare system, as they promised Tasmanians years ago.
Anita Dow MP
Shadow Health Minister
