Day 98 since the closure of Mersey Community Hospital Emergency Department.
Health minister Sarah Courtney continues to ignore the repeated requests for certainty around the future of MCH ED, refusing to provide even a rough estimate of when we will have the emergency care that we deserve.
Meanwhile the premier Peter Gutwein has no end of excuses:
"We're dealing with a pandemic, and bringing staff over from Victoria is problematic."
"Ensuring we've got the appropriate people to provide the care that is required in a 24/7 ED is front and centre in our minds, but we've got some challenges at the moment because we've just come from a pandemic."
Its amazing how they can bring over construction workers without quarantine to finish a hotel in Hobart but not staff for a hospital! Maybe the problem is not the pandemic but more a matter of priorities.
Given the years of government abuse toward the Mersey and the community it serves we can be forgiven a cynical mistrust of our leader's objectives regarding MCH. Particularly when nearby hospitals seem to have no problem with staffing.
Everyone suffers because our health care system is highly interconnected, so attacks on the Mersey do not occur in a vacuum but have flow on effects such as ambulance ramping and staff pressure at the LGH and RHH.
Every night, after the MCH ED closes, our hardworking ambulance crews are transporting patients to other hospitals who would otherwise be kept safely at the MCH.
How many have suffered reduced health outcomes due to this unnecessary patient movement?
Have we seen any concrete evidence that our government is putting as much effort into staffing our hospital as ensuring a Hobart hotel opens on time?
Transparency, Transparency, Transparency is what we want. Just tell the truth health minister. If you are really committed to reopening the MCH ED then show us the evidence. Where are the job adverts for permanent staffing including specialist roles at the MCH?
Where is the commitment to treating this hospital as anything more than an inconvenience?
Stay safe,
Tasmanian Citizen.
P.S: Please consider sharing signing this petition: http://fixthehealthcrisis.com/