Day 76 since closure of the Mersey ED.
Yesterday, in the Advocate, our health minister was quoted as saying that although the government was 'actively' recruiting for permanent roles she could not say when the ED would return to a 24 hour service.
She said:
"We have permanent roles there, should we be able to find staff, and we are also looking for locums".
"The government is committed to ensuring it returns to 24/7. It's unfortunate that I can't give a specific date".
The minister blames it all on Covid-19 which has "...led to recruitment challenges of medical staff".
It all sounds quite reasonable until you start wondering why MCH is the only hospital facing these challenges.
Lets check the hospitals serving the largest 3 catchment areas in Tasmania:
- RHH has a 24/7 ED.
- LGH has a 24/7 ED.
- MCH ED is open only between 8am and 11pm.
Somehow the smaller catchment area serviced by NWRH has escaped this dilemma and enjoys a 24/7 ED.
Why is the Mersey ED alone crippled by these staff shortages? Is the fatal over-dependence upon locum staff a simple bureaucratic error or a deliberate ploy to interfere with long term security of this hospital.
This current situation has demonstrated very clearly that the Tasmanian government is unable or unwilling to run MCH correctly. We know its not about the money because it has guaranteed funding for another 7 years so the only remaining explanations are incompetence or malice.
We want to believe minister Courtney when she describes the heroic efforts to rectify this situation but the wounds created by the governments persistent attacks against this hospital are still fresh.
We have lost specialist services, HDU, paediatrics, heck it was less than 4 years ago that they tore Maternity away so we can be forgiven for a level of suspicion regarding the governments true intentions.
The cure for suspicion is transparency, and given the attacks on our hospital over the years we need EXTREME transparency.
I am not satisfied by statements from the health minister around recruitment efforts and how committed the government is to blah blah blah.
Lets ask the health minister to:
- Give us clear details of these alleged recruitment efforts.
- Explain why MCH can donate staff to NWRH in time of need but the reverse is not true.
- Launch an immediate audit into the usage thus far of the 750 million dollars federal funding granted to MCH. How much of this money has been diverted to other hospitals?
This fight is far over, do not let the government make this reduced ED capability the new normal. Keep in mind that every victory you allow them makes their next attack even easier, as the past has shown.
Stay Safe and well (especially after 11 pm!),
Warm Regards,
Tasmanian Citizen.