The Tasmanian Health Service has made written offers to two neurologists, for positions at the Launceston General Hospital.
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It comes five months after the North and North-West’s only full-time neurologist, Dr Kurien Koshy, told The Examiner he was leaving the hospital, and the state, because his cries for help were ignored by the state government.
A THS spokesman said on Tuesday the service was awaiting advice from the two applicants who had been offered employment.
It is understood that, since Dr Koshy’s departure, general practitioners have been unable to refer patients to a neurologist north of Hobart, despite Health Minister Michael Ferguson saying locums would fill the void.
“Rather than reduce service provision, locum cover will provide care in the interim so that patients are not left in the lurch,” Mr Ferguson said in June.
However, Australian Medical Association Tasmania president Dr Stuart Day said locum neurologists were largely dealing with the backlog of patients already waiting for an appointment in Launceston.
“So, while we had a neurologist, then the clinics could accept referrals for people to see that neurologist, and then when that neurologist left, that waiting list needed to be dealt with,” he said.
“[But] there is no neurologist in the public sector accepting referrals that I know of at this time north of Hobart. There is a significant wait to get in to neurologists in Hobart, and that’s the only place to get into them in the current capacity.”
Dr Koshy was based at the LGH for more than six years.
He said his workload had been increasing, particularly in the six months to June this year, and there had been “no efforts from the organisation itself to provide any further help”.
He said discussions to increase services had been ongoing since he took up the post at Launceston.
“Mainly for increased space in the hospital to expand the services, efforts to recruit more staff – neurologists, specialists, requests to provide a full-time registrar for neurology services so that phone consults and things for the North-West can be dealt with more effectively,” Dr Koshy said.
“If there would have been more efforts to expand the services, yes, I would have considered staying on.”
Mr Ferguson said in June that he was unaware of any complaints being made by Dr Koshy.
The next day, the minister announced the government would recruit two new full-time neurologists.
Opposition Leader Rebecca White said on Tuesday there were “too many stories” surfacing about patients waiting to see specialists in Tasmania.
“Just recently, a girl on the North-West Coast was forced to go to Melbourne and pay privately to see a specialist for a very serious neurological condition, which is simply not good enough,” she said.
“There aren’t enough specialists to see patients, there aren’t enough clinics to see patients, the waiting times are too long, and too many people are being forced to take out private health insurance or go interstate for treatments that should be available to them here in Tasmania.”
A state government spokeswoman said, at the end of October this year, there were nearly 400 fewer people waiting to see a neurologist for an outpatient appointment at the Royal Hobart Hospital than there were in 2014.
“Over that period, the average waiting time has reduced by more than four months,” she said.
“Recruitment is currently underway for two neurologists, who will service patients in both the North and North-West of the state.
“The North has never had this many neurologists.”
Dr Koshy took up a position in Melbourne in August.
It is unknown when the two neurologist positions at the LGH will be officially filled.
