Tasmania’s health unions have raised serious doubts about the July 1 merger of the state’s three regional health organisations.
A month out from the merger, there is little detail about how the new statewide Tasmanian Health Service (THS) will work.
The Government insists it is on track with its plan to scrap the health organisations operating in north-west, northern and southern Tasmania.
Unions are countering the claim, suggesting that while the new state-wide service may be formally brought into being by July, it will exist in name only for up to a year.
A leaked government document dated April 20, 2015 shows the management structure for the THS is still up in the air.
Unions fear the proposed structure will end up top heavy and will not save the targeted $20 million.
The document contains a proposed structure with a chief executive office, overseeing four directors, accountable to a governing council.
A chief operating officer within the service would also delegate work to three regional managers, and three executive directors.
Stakeholders who met Health Minister Michael Ferguson have conveyed reservations about the structure, claiming it is “top-heavy”.
But Mr Ferguson said all was well, telling reporters in Hobart on Monday that Governor Kate Warner had already signed the necessary paperwork to bring the new THS into being.
“That’s a tremendous confidence boost for health reform in Tasmania,” he said.
“It’s an opportunity now for all Tasmanians to get equal access to better health services wherever they live — it’s not currently the case, but that’s the future.”
New service 12 months away: health union
The Health and Community Services Union’s Tim Jacobson has deep reservations about the timeframe for the creation of the THS.
“The Health Department has advised us that the merger won’t be happening on the first of July,” he told the ABC.
“It couldn’t happen right now, there’s too much happening and, in fact, I think the Government has found that it will be a far more difficult time than it first thought.
“I would consider, given everything that’s going on, that it would probably be at best 12 months down the track before we’ve got a full THS structure in place.”
In addition to the creation of the THS and the merger of the three regional health bodies set up by its Labor predecessor, the State Government is also consulting on a “white paper” which envisages a rationalisation of complex surgeries in Hobart and Launceston.
It is also striving to drive down elective surgery waiting lists, which are continuing to grow, and “clinically redesigning” services at the Launceston General and Royal Hobart hospitals.
Mr Ferguson conceded he had a lot on his plate in the health portfolio but dismissed concerns, voiced by unions and others in the health sector, that he was taking on too much at once.
“It’s a very dynamic and exciting process to be part of,” he said.
“[This] is our great opportunity in this state to finally take the politics out of health planning.
“I believe that we are imminently to the point where Tasmanians can be very confident about their health services going forward.”
Minister claims Mersey funding now a done deal
Mr Ferguson also indicated uncertainty around the future of Latrobe’s federally-funded Mersey Hospital would be brought to an end within days.
The Commonwealth has been coy on the future of the hospital’s funding and failed to include any meaningful mention of its future in this month’s budget.
When asked about funding for the Mersey Hospital during a visit to northern Tasmania last week, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he would not “leave Tasmania in the lurch”.
With the Tasmanian Government’s own budget due to be handed down on Thursday, Mr Ferguson said a deal with the Commonwealth had been struck.
He indicated that under the deal, the Mersey would continue to be wholly Commonwealth-funded.
“It is literally a matter now of formalities,” he said.
“There are no implications with regard to the state budget.”
View the original content and more from this author here: http://ift.tt/1RgtfbF
from health IT caucus http://ift.tt/1FektmI
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment