How the government plans to fill additional roles in the health system to help meet increasing demand remains to be seen, as stakeholders continue calls for less planning and more action.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Thursday's state budget included a significant "cash splash" for health spending.
However, there are concerns Tasmania will be unable to attract the health professionals required to match additional investments in elective surgery.
The government has made a $196.4 million commitment to help deliver almost 30,000 surgeries and endoscopies over the next four years, with more than 180 staff expected to support the volume increase.
But Health and Community Services Union state secretary Tim Jacobson said it remained unclear how the government planned to recruit more staff, when existing positions remain unfilled.
"Given the circumstances we are in right now, it may end up being an aspirational goal, rather than a reality - that is the government delivering on that priority in the next 12 months," he said.
"What we are looking at is another cash splash into one of the biggest problems that we've got, which is elective surgery.
"We can't at the moment, fill a number of the specialist vacancies that we have.
"So our ability to recruit into what we have at the moment is limited, let alone to find somewhere like 220 odd additional staff from interstate to come in and fill those positions for elective surgery ..."
The government has budgeted $15.7 million to implement its Health Workforce 2040 Strategy, including recruitment, training, re-training, post-graduate training and recruitment processes.
Of this, $6.7 million is budgeted for 2021-22, with the remaining $9 million over three years in forward estimates.
However, Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Tasmania branch secretary Emily Shepherd said the state's health workforce couldn't afford to wait another four years for a solution.
"The difficulty we face is we already have existing vacancies across our health service," she said.
"We can't wait for a strategic plan to bring about change, and more nurses and midwives in four years time - we need to see action now.
"Our members are extremely burnt out. They are stretched across our health services, working in COVID clinics, giving immunisations, working in hotel quarantine.
"I am glad the Treasurer has $300 million in surplus funds, because it is going to be needed."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.examiner.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @examineronline
- Follow us on Instagram: @examineronline
- Follow us on Google News: The Examiner