It has been five months since Northern Tasmania’s only full-time neurologist announced he was leaving the state.
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Dr Kurien Koshy, who serviced the North and North-West from the Launceston General Hospital, is just now on the eve of being replaced.
At the time of Dr Koshy’s resignation, Health Minister Michael Ferguson said the government would recruit two new full-time neurologists.
It has been heard this week that job offers have been extended to fill those positions.
Their pending acceptance will be welcome news to the many patients throughout the state who rely on neurologists for crucial medical care.
Our population has higher-than-average rates of neurological diseases such as Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
In these vacant few months, North and North-West patients have been left to dwell in the backlogs, as locums are flown in from interstate to cater to existing patients.
It’s believed that any new Northern referrals have been left to find their way down the Midland Highway for an appointment.
The Examiner, as part of the Tasmanian community, has heard many stories of patients taking desperate measures to meet specialists appointments, travelling as far as interstate.
Even more upsetting are the stories of those who do not have the option of travelling for treatment; they are too sick or the cost too expensive.
According to Premier Will Hodgman, we are five months out from a state election. Both sides of politics have been in election mode for the better half of 2017.
Health has always, and proves once more, to be one of the biggest battlegrounds on which this election duel will be played out.
Five months of silence, and dodgeball-style answers pertaining to “fixing a Labor-Green mess” are not enough when it comes to questions on our health system.
It is acknowledged that in many aspects, the state’s health system and hospitals are operating more efficiently than they were under the previous government.
But “better” does not equate to acceptable. This is not about politics, or elections, or previous governments.
This is about people, Tasmanians, struggling to find the medical help that they need, and quite often, in quite dire circumstances.
Tasmanian voters will not be happy if specialists are wheeled out on the eve of an election.
