In the lead up to the federal election, the Australian Medical Association's Tasmania branch is calling for a focus on five key areas of broad health policy.

This includes sustainable healthcare facilities and infrastructure, support for frontline staff, health funding based on community need, and accessible services for all Tasmanians, no matter where they live.

General practice and primary care; a future-proofed Medicare system; public hospitals; mental, private, Indigenous, rural and preventative health are just some of the key issues the AMA has identified as election priorities.

As federal pledges continue to stack up, AMA Tasmania president Dr John Burgess said funding needed to be directed towards where it was needed clinically, rather than politically - something he said would take leadership and courage.

"We would like to see that all levels of government, federal, state and local, work together with a common plan that is transparent," he said.

"Not knee jerk decision making based purely on what appears to be a possible solution at a point in time, rather than forming part of a plan that in fact has to be sensible and will work over many years.

"In some senses for Tasmania, we need an integrated health system. That means that our general practice, our hospitals public and private, need to be working in a coordinated way with each other and that crosses electoral and regional boundaries.

"The plan has to take the entire health system in the state into account, and avoid flooding funds into politically rather than clinically determined areas.

"Individual patients in the community, to get access to the care they need, it isn't determined by what electorate someone's in. Their access to healthcare needs to be determined by the need they have for care.

"It takes a degree of courage by politicians to actually do the right thing when it comes to the announcements regarding funding, not just what may be seen in the short term as being popular."

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Health has been at the centre of both major parties' election platforms, with Northern Tasmania set to benefit from a number of announcements already made.

Dr Burgess said considering the cost of improving public hospital infrastructure, the AMA would be looking to give "top marks" to the party that was prepared to support the state government's hospital building plan.

"Upgrading and re-building our public hospital infrastructure is a very expensive exercise. It is probably the most expensive thing that any state government undertakes at an infrastructure level," he said.

"We would like to see major federal funding committed to build Tasmanian hospital infrastructure, in accordance with the plan that the state government has worked with clinicians and hospitals to develop.

"That is something that will be a legacy, not only for our community and our patients now, but also for future generations.

"Because this infrastructure does age, it does need replacing, and it's massively expensive, compared to anything a state government can generally afford to do by itself."

Both major parties have made commitments to establish a mental health centre for the North.

Labor pledged $15 million to build a new mental health hub and 25-bed unit close to the Launceston General Hospital, while the Liberals announced $10.5 million for a walk-in mental health centre, also in Launceston.

Dr Burgess said addressing Tasmania's mental ill-health would require sufficient funding, infrastructure and staffing.

"The test of society is how well it cares for its most vulnerable. Patients with mental health care needs are some of the most vulnerable in our community and more needs to be done," he said.

"That touches on more than just the healthcare facilities, when we look at hospitals.

"It touches on issues such as significant disadvantage and homelessness, all of which aggravates people with mental health status.

"But it also influences the ability for them, when they do come into hospital for treatment, to be able to be discharged back to an appropriate environment.

"There does need to be a substantial recognition that we haven't got this right at the moment.

"It will need sufficient funding, sufficient infrastructure and sufficient staffing, so that we are able to appropriately care for patients with mental health issues."

Tasmania continues to have some of the worst health outcomes in the country.

Dr Burgess said the only way Tasmania's health service was going to be able to manage increased demand, was if more was done in the preventative health space.

He said it was time acknowledge that Tasmania's underlying health issues were often related to significant social disadvantage.

"When talking about preventative health, we obviously need to have a very long term and clear strategy" he said.

"It is both preventative health in relation to issues... such as diet, exercise, reducing tobacco and alcohol consumption... these are all critical strategies. But we also need to look at the very significant underpinnings that often relate to inter-generational disadvantage.

"Addressing significant social disadvantage and understanding how it increases the risk of disease, which obviously then leads to hospital presentations and extended stays in hospital when people do get sick, is an essential process.

"We really do need as a community to sit down and think very carefully about this and I think it should be a bipartisan process.

"But we don't expect it's going to happen as part of a five-year plan. It's a five-year plan to work out what the next 50 years will look like.

"Breaking inter-generational cycles of disadvantage in ill-health is critical."

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