Federal Labor Leader Bill Shorten has pledged $30 million to assist Tasmania’s elective surgery waiting list should it win government in 2019.
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The pledge is intended to add to Tasmanian Labor’s $75 million commitment to elective surgery and reduce waiting times for outpatient appointments.
Mr Shorten said 20 per cent of Tasmanian patients are forced to wait more than a year for hip replacement – five times the national average – while 40 per cent of patients are forced to wait more than a year for knee replacement, which was six times the national average.
Health Minister Michael Ferguson said the promise seemed to rest on both parties winning elections.
He said his government had brought the elective surgery waiting list and waiting times down to record lows.
