LGH at breaking point, $700 million of Liberal cuts will make it worse

Overnight the LGH Emergency Department was again stretched beyond capacity, with the ANMF reporting there were over 70 patients in the department, with over 40 not allocated a bed. 

Patients were treated in the waiting room and on trolleys in hallways, ambulances ramped, and only one resuscitation bay was available. 

But instead of putting the health and wellbeing of Tasmanians first, the Liberal Government is cutting $700 million from it to account for 13 years of Liberal waste. 

Every dollar cut from healthcare has a human cost, and Tasmanians will continue to pay the price for a system in crisis. 

Premier Rockliff has chosen to put Eric Abetz in charge of the budget, while Minister Archer backs in these gutless cuts. Everyone knows you cannot cut $700 million from a health system at breaking point and pretend there will be no consequences.

They are choosing to ignore patients. They are choosing to ignore frontline staff, the AMA, ANMF, and HACSU. And they are choosing to make a health system in crisis do more with less. 

It means even longer waits. Even more pressure on staff. Even more stress for families. And even more Tasmanians left wondering whether their healthcare system will be there when they need it.

Tasmanians need a government that will stop cutting from the services they need most.