Several services for the Launceston General Hospital and Calvary co-location have been confirmed, however, a decision on the final service list has been postponed.
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Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff said the government and Calvary agreed to extend negotiations beyond the November deadline to January 31, citing ongoing consultations with Northern stakeholders.
Mr Rockliff said the extension would allow for further negotiations between the two parties concerning the development of the co-location and the clinical services it would provide.
Since signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Calvary in June, the government has undertaken consultation with key stakeholders to identify priority clinical services for the hospital.
Mr Rockliff said Calvary's proposal included overnight and same-day beds, services for palliative care, mental health, postnatal services, medical beds, and elective surgery, but a chronic pain service and hospice care would not be included.
The proposal also included provisions for an extended care service and access to radiology and pathology services in place of a private emergency department, but was subject to further negotiations.
Mr Rockliff said the government would further consider maternity services for the LGH, suggesting they would not form part of the Calvary proposal.
Since an unsolicited bid to develop a co-located hospital was put forward by Calvary three years ago, questions have been raised about the breadth of services provided, and how they would reduce pressure on the LGH.
One of the stakeholders to provide feedback on the development was St.LukesHealth chief executive Paul Lupo, who said the co-location had the potential to fill a gap in the health sector - as long as it addressed the needs of the community.
Mr Lupo said the state's largest private health insurer represented a significant portion of Calvary's customer base and welcomed the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposal.
Following a member survey last year, StLukes identified six services the public felt were a priority for the co-located hospital, which were provided to Calvary and the government.
Mr Lupo said while a private ED was not practical due to running costs and service duplications, he had stressed the importance of the co-location providing a range of services for emergency triage patients.
"We've certainly made it a very strong viewpoint to both Calvary and the government that Calvary should be offering walk-in services for non-acute cases, categories two to five,'' he said.
"We think that Calvary - as the sole operated private hospital - needs to step up and provide an option to privately insured members so they can go in and access those types of services in the private hospital.
Mr Lupo said providing non-acute triage services would reduce pressure on the LGH emergency department, which he explained was part of a broader community obligation Calvary needed to consider when developing determining which services to provide.
"Just under one in two Tasmanians have private health insurance, so for a monopoly operator in the private system, I think you've got a community obligation to solve some of those problems," he said.
Clifford Craig chief executive Peter Milne said it was essential the co-location provides the most holistic service for the region.
"I'm encouraged by what's come out in regard to elective surgery and increased medical beds, postnatal services, addressing that palliative care bed need, mental health and also the overnight and same day beds, that's probably a step forward from where they were a few months ago," he said.
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the region, so it's really important we can maximise the benefits."
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