The state government has bowed to increasing pressure from Tasmania’s leading health organisations and promised to remove the Tasmanian Health System executive structure if re-elected.
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Health Minister Michael Ferguson said the proposal would see the abolishment of the THS nine-person governing council and chief executive Dr David Alcorn, returning decision-making power back to hospitals.
The Australian Medical Association Tasmania and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Tasmania both welcomed the move after months of actively lobbying for a restructure to the system.
Mr Ferguson said he recognised decision-making in the health system was too centralised and negatively impacting clinician and patient outcomes.
“In the first session of parliament after the election, a re-elected Hodgman Liberal Majority Government will introduce legislation to restructure the THS so that the THS can report directly to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services,” Mr Ferguson said.
He said the state government remained committed to the single statewide health system policy, established to replace the original three-region system.
“With strong local management and statewide planning and strategic leadership, we will get rid of the duplicated, centralised management,” Mr Ferguson said.
Opposition Leader Rebecca White questioned the need to wait until after the election to take action, saying Labor would also return decision-making to hospitals.
“To put it off until after the election is not good enough – if it requires an act of parliament, recall the parliament so we can deal with this,” she said.
“Michael Ferguson has said that he doesn’t have confidence in the THS [chief executive] or the executive, but he’s not going to remove them for another three months at least.”
THS chief executive Dr David Alcorn is two years into a five-year contract, while the governing council hold other roles outside the council.
AMA Tasmania welcomed the announcement, saying the THS executives had failed to deliver the one health system vision.
President Dr Stuart Day earlier gave evidence to a Legislative Council inquiry into Tasmania’s acute health system saying the AMA had no confidence in Dr Alcorn’s leadership as chief executive and the system was “toxic”.
ANMF Tasmanian branch secretary Emily Shepherd said the organisation had “long held concerns about the leadership of the THS”.
“The announcement today is an acknowledgement of these concerns,” she said.
Mr Ferguson said consultation on the final organisational structures in each hospital would take place with health organisations.
If legislation passed parliament, power would be returned to hospitals by July 1.