Day 140 since the closure of Mersey Community Hospital Emergency Department.

Today in the Advocate it was revealed that we are to suffer even further reductions to health care availability in the fast growing region serviced by the Mersey Community Hospital.

Starting Monday the already slashed opening hours of the Mersey ED will be reduced to 8am to 6pm.

What a gift this pandemic has been to a government long desperate for an excuse to shut down our Mersey.

For years the government has waged war against our hospital, tearing it apart piece by piece, one of their cruellest tactics being a refusal to seek permanent medical staff, forcing a reliance upon expensive (and now unavailable) locums.

They have managed to get away with this largely unnoticed by the public for years however the consequences of their poor decisions are now being felt keenly by us all:

"The majority of locums who staff the MCH's emergency department are from interstate. Due to current quarantine requirements and travel restrictions, finding locums to be able to staff the emergency department has become extremely difficult," - Health minister Courtney.

With the border closures and current events in Victoria this cavalier attitude toward the Mersey has resulted in a dangerous situation where the scant few doctors we have are forced to work unsustainable hours with no support.

Ambulances are already pushed to their limits routing patients around the currently crippled Mersey ED, this latest blow will increase their load even more.

Unfortunately it is possible that things will get worse before they get better however for those of us that rely upon the Mighty Mersey ED to keep our families safe and healthy it is important to plan for the future.

The moment this pandemic lets up we need to focus on making sure that we cement our right to accessible healthcare.

Never again should we be made vulnerable by reckless staffing arrangements created by an uncaring government.

Lets use the federal funding granted to the Mersey to make it a fully functioning hospital once again. This is assuming any of this money remains of course, so lets start with an audit to determine exactly how much has been leeched away into other places.

Everyone is suffering right now but one day it will end so when we finally get the chance lets make sure we never lose our hospital again!

Stay Safe,

Tasmanian Citizen