The Department of Health (DoH) has defended its expenses on consultants and travel after new documents reveal that $30 million was spent on both.
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The DoH and Tasmania Health Service spent $10.2 million on consultants in the year leading up to November 2022 and more than $20 million on travel.
The figures were revealed by Tasmanian Labor after it received documents obtained via a Right To Information request.
"Tasmanians should rightly question whether they are getting value for money with this much being spent on consultants," said Labor health spokesperson Anita Dow.
"Premier and Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff needs to explain what the money was spent on and what the outcomes were.
"How has $10 million of Tasmanian taxpayers' money spent on consultants improved Tasmanian's access to healthcare or health outcomes?
"It's a massive amount of money to be spent on consultancies when our emergency departments are overcrowded, ambulance response times are up 25 per cent and ramping is unfortunately the norm."
Ms Dow said the same applied to the amount spent on travel.
"Of course a portion would have been associated with service provision, but are Tasmanians really getting value for money?
"And it's beyond a joke that the Health Department's Human Resources system continues to be unable to provide information on staff vacancies.
"This makes it virtually impossible to do proper workforce planning at a time of chronic short staffing, which in turn impacts service delivery and Tasmanians' ability to access health care when and where they need it.
"The Liberals have had nearly a decade to make a difference in health, and by almost any measure they've failed."
However, a DoH spokesperson said it spent less than half a per cent of its annual budget on consultants.
"The Department of Health engages independent subject matter experts as consultants where necessary to ensure the continued delivery of essential health services, and to improve the safety and quality of services provided.
"Consultants have been engaged for a number of large projects that are being implemented to significantly improve health services in Tasmania, including our Digital Health Transformation and Outpatient Transformation programs, North West Hospitals Masterplan, and the Statewide Access and Flow program.
"However, it is important to note that spend on consultants represented 0.3% of the total Health budget during 2021/22.
"As per the latest annual report, in 2021-22, expenditure on consultants was $9.9 million from total outflows of $2.9 billion."
The spokesperson also said that travel costs were necessary for providing health care.
"Travel expenses are another reality of delivering high-quality health services across Tasmania.
"The vast majority of travel expenses are motor vehicle costs including leases and fuel, and includes costs associated with the election commitment to purchase new ambulances."
The DoH said it was developing a new human resources information system for vacancies and recruitment.
