General practitioners say an upper house inquiry into acute health will not paint a full picture, calling for an independent review into all aspects of healthcare in Tasmania.
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It comes as the opposition calls on the government to release a Deloitte report into new beds in the state’s hospitals, which was commissioned this year.
Health Minister Michael Ferguson said the report was “cabinet in confidence”, which meant it would not be released to “ensure frank and fearless advice is given”.
“What is actually important is that the work by the new bed implementation team is seeing the successful roll-out of more than 120 extra beds and treatment recliners – that should be welcomed by Labor because it means more Tasmanians getting the care they need sooner,” he said.
But Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Dr Bastian Seidel, who is a GP in the state’s South, said stories continued surfacing “over and over again” about how the health system was “failing patients”.
“We hear about long waiting lists for elective surgery, we hear about long waiting lists for acute procedures as well, and patients even having to go interstate to access urgent treatment,” he said.
“That’s certainly concerning for us, because if we as GPs can’t refer patients for hospital treatment, what are we going to do with them? We’ve already said they have to go into hospital or they need to have treatment in a hospital setting and we GPs can’t deal with them anymore.”
Dr Seidel called for a “genuinely independent inquiry” into the health system, saying the upper house inquiry dealt with acute health only.
“If we talk about elective surgery, that would not be covered in the acute sector, and also, all of the elective surgery staff would not be covered under the terms of reference. Palliative care is not covered, chronic disease management is not covered, looking at community health is not covered, looking at preventative health, that’s not covered either.”
"If we as GPs can’t refer patients for hospital treatment, what are we going to do with them?
- RACGP president Dr Bastian Seidel
Mr Ferguson said the government would not commission an independent inquiry.
“The current legislative council inquiry into health is broad ranging, a separate inquiry is not required,” he said. “There has already been an independent commission on health services in Tasmania, which was set up by the federal government.
“The Liberal government supported this independent and comprehensive review, which (in 2014) highlighted the systemic failings and the need for change, which we have embraced.”
