Key Points
A Rebecca White Labor Government build a new public hospital, as a dedicated public surgery and specialist centre in Hobart to help ease Tasmania’s health crisis.
The hospital will allow thousands of public patients to receive elective surgery sooner in the public system.
Labor’s plan will include:
- Building a new hospital in New Town by 2027
- Reducing surgery waitlists by 13,000 a year
- Up to 8 new operating theatres and 24 beds
- Committing $160m to the land and build
- Employing more than 100 staff at a cost of approximately $20m/pa once operational
Why we need it
After 10 years of a Liberal government there are 66,708 patients languishing on the elective surgery waitlist and outpatient waitlists. This is double the amount of patients waiting when the Liberals first came to power.
“Labor get to work on day one to relieve pressure right across our health system”
Labor will get straight to work to ease this pressure by purchasing the land in New Town where a private hospital was previously proposed, and building a new public hospital by 2027 at a cost of $160m.
The details
One of the main reasons surgeries are cancelled is because there are no beds available in our hospitals.
The hospital will allow thousands of public patients to receive surgery and access to specialists sooner in the public system. Once fully operational there will be over 13,000 procedures completed each year at the hospital.
The plans for the hospital allow for up to eight operating theatres and up to 24 overnight beds.
As a dedicated day surgery centre without emergency surgery diverting health workers, the hospital will make a real difference to public patient waitlists.
This will take huge amounts of pressures off our hospitals, having benefits throughout the health system. Reducing unnecessary waiting for patients and provide a better quality of care.
Where will the workers come from?
The facility will be operational in 2027, and we’ll use that time to thoroughly plan for the workforce needs.
The hospital will employ over 100 staff at a cost of approximately $20m/pa. Labor has already announced an ambitious and smart workforce plan to attract and retain health staff in Tasmania – including offering free degrees, making over 500 health workers permanent and paying for clinical placements.
As a 9am-5pm facility this will suit many health professionals – specialists and nurses who may want an alternative to hospital shift work. We will offer them secure and flexible jobs.
"This is exactly what health workers have been asking for. We need new hospitals and new hospital beds opened. This announcement is exactly what we need. Because in the last 24 hours we’ve seen some of the worst ramping at the Royal Hobart Hospital 24 new beds at this facility is a part of the solution for fixing ramping and to fix the hospital bed block situation that we have. So we think this is a really positive announcement and shows that Tasmanians have a real alternative on Saturday, to change government and to look at a party that will invest in our health system."
Robbie Moore, State Secretary of the Health and Community Services Union