Six years waiting: Tasmanians wait longer for specialist appointments in North

Public health data reveals that one in nine Tasmanians are waiting to see specialists in public outpatient clinics and are likely to be left waiting years, just for an appointment.

They wait with medical issues ranging from heart, bowel, stomach and intestine concerns, breathing conditions, hand injuries, burn injuries and diseases, such as diabetes.

Once they see a specialist, and their condition requires surgery, another wait on a surgery waitlist will likely follow.

Some of the highest wait times for non-urgent patients occur in the North.

This includes an almost six-year wait to see a gastroenterology specialist, an almost five-year wait to see a respiratory specialist, and four-year waits to see either a urologist, neurologist, otolaryngologist, a colorectal surgeon or a plastic surgeon.

When looking at wait times for non-urgent patients across the North and South, individuals in the North are waiting more than double, and in some instances, more than five times the amount of time than those in the South.

For example, Northern Tasmanians waiting to see a gastroenologist who are categorised as non-urgent will be waiting 2187 days on average, compared to a 1284 day wait in the South.

Northerners will wait 785 days for general medicine compared to 152 days in the south, 1594 days to see an ear, nose and throat specialist versus 348 days in the south, and for neurological concerns, people in the north wait 1654 days, but in the south it's a 662 day wait.

Looking at data from July last year, and across all medical issues, urgent patients are waiting, on average, more than three months, semi-urgent patients wait for almost a year, while non-urgent patients wait a year and a half.

Labor MLC Sarah Lovell said thousands of Tasmanians are waiting for priority healthcare.

"After ten years of Liberal mismanagement, the state's health system is only getting worse with waitlists for relatively simple procedures far beyond what's acceptable," she said.

"Jeremy Rockliff is the Premier and Health Minister, and if he was going make a positive difference to Tasmanian health outcomes, he would have done so by now."

Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff has said that as a result of the government's record investment in health, more Tasmanians are receiving the care they need sooner.

He said this included funding for a Outpatient Transformation Strategy that will see the implementation of nurse-led clinics to reduce waiting times and provide health services sooner.

A health department spokesperson said it was progressing its four year plan to transform the way outpatients services are delivered.

"The length of time an individual patient waits to see a specialist can be affected by a range of factors, and we empathise with those experiencing longer wait times," they said.

"Patients are prioritised for outpatient appointments with specialists, with more urgent cases seen sooner than those with less urgent need."

They said more than 43,000 people do not attend appointments, which are missed opportunities to take patients of the waitlist.

Further, they said the department is on track to treat more than 475,000 outpatients across the state.

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