Health is a portfolio that touches all Tasmanians; thousands are employed across the state, and whether we use it frequently or rarely, it is there for us when we need it.

The portfolio extends beyond hospitals to other important aspects, including preventative health, and I'm really pleased to be working with the new Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Jeremy Rockliff, to provide an even greater focus on these important parts of the health system.

During my first two weeks as health minister, I have spent many hours at the Royal Hobart Hospital, Launceston General Hospital, North West Regional Hospital and Mersey Community Hospital.

I've visited Ambulance Tasmania's headquarters in Hobart, as well as the Launceston and Wynyard Ambulance stations, the Devonport Community Health Centre and the Midlands Multi-Purpose Health Centre, and I am continuing to tour Tasmania's health facilities and meet staff and patients.

I have met hundreds of frontline staff, and heard firsthand about the real challenges we are currently facing, as well as what is working and why people love their jobs.

I've also spoken with patients who have nothing but praise for our hardworking staff and the wonderful care they received, and heard about the challenges they've faced with their health, and with waiting longer than they should have for care.

There is no doubt our health system faces significant challenges, and there is no silver bullet to reduce the increased demand and increased complexity of cases presenting to our hospitals.

However, we do have a plan to improve the system and meet that increasing demand, and we are working closely together to implement solutions right now.

The Department of Health has worked with the Tasmanian Health Service to implement immediate actions after last month's Access Solutions Meeting, with a working group now established to strengthen engagement with private hospitals.

We are also working to improve access to data to drive timely and quality care.

Addressing patient flow and efficiencies will also be supported by initiatives, including:

In the North, there are a number of developments in the health system that I am excited to lead, including the LGH masterplan, which will guide the future development of our hospital and help us to better understand our future service and capacity needs. I am especially keen to listen to and understand the feedback that will come out of the local consultations.

Our LGH is currently undergoing an $87.3 million redevelopment, which will deliver the physical capacity we need to expand services. While the final details are still subject to consultation, we are looking forward to improving key infrastructure at the hospital, like birthing services and acute facilities.

Importantly, the redevelopment will include additional beds and we've allocated $5 million for additional car parking.

Calvary's bid for a co-located hospital at the LGH is progressing, which, if it goes ahead, will take pressure off the public system and help boost recruitment and retention opportunities in Launceston.

We are also focusing on rural and regional areas, with a number of new paramedics to be employed across the North to assist in reducing fatigue, increasing ambulance responsiveness and reducing overtime costs. This is part of our $125 million investment into Ambulance Tasmania over six years, which includes the progressive recruitment of 42 paramedics in rural areas.

Other initiatives include boosting telehealth services, to reduce travel times and associated costs for patients who need to see their specialists, and facility upgrades at a number of sites, including the emergency generator and car park works at the North East Soldiers Memorial Hospital at Scottsdale.

In the coming weeks and months I look forward to continuing to meet the many frontline staff we have across the state, who are doing an incredible job in very busy conditions. We will continue to do everything we can to support them.

I have a big job ahead of me to continue the significant work of Michael Ferguson, and I look forward to working with staff, stakeholders and the department to tackle the challenges we are seeing in our health system head on and deliver the best possible care that we can.

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