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The Forum > Article Comments > The Tasmanian hospital fiasco > Comments

The Tasmanian hospital fiasco : Comments

By Jeff Richardson, published 14/8/2007

As a result of Federal Government duplicity and the public’s gullibility, Tasmanians are likely to die.

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Jesus wept; and there was i thinking it was only the public purse being injured by Howards delusions of cleverness.

I suspect he is motivated solely by the search for a polical wedge issue: 'saving' Abo. kiddies, 'saving' country hospitals, 'saving' the Murray Darling.

Whatever reason for such incompetent adventurism (no Treasury costings, no stakeholder consult, no time to read never mind debate legislation), a stunning amount of damage is being done. These will be known as Howards Mao years.
Posted by Liam, Tuesday, 14 August 2007 8:55:15 PM
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The push on the Mersey Hospital has nothing to do with a concern in relation to health provision. Mr. Howard is trying to buy votes. It's being called an experiment by Mr. Howard, a good excuse not to be involved in other Regional areas where Hospital services also need to be revamped.
It's quite`appalling how the Howard government ran roughshod over those who had created a plan to utilise health resources in the most efficient manner in Northern Tasmania.
If that is the best political administration they can utilise, then we will be fortunate if the Coalition loses the next election.
Posted by ant, Tuesday, 14 August 2007 10:09:26 PM
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Well blow me down and roll me over, John Howard sticking his neck out to save a public hospital. He must have found he had a heart afterall.

Nice little twist in this authors article to appeal to peoples sense that avoidable deaths can be avoid by creating a center of excellence and by creating one superstructure this will decrease the numbers of avoidable deaths.

Only one problem, cost. Well there are two problems really, because costs then creates cost cutting.

A kind of paradox exists, for example hospitals of around 200 beds are cheaper to run than a hospital of 400 beds and as the size of the hospital increases so does the cost of treating a patient.

Then suddenly after closing a hospital down and transferring patients to a larger hospital, costs increase and then in come the razor gang to reduce costs, waiting lists increase, theatre time decreases, and fewer beds become available.

Yep a lovely mess.

Its a shame really we dont actually put the razor through federal and state parliments.
Posted by JamesH, Tuesday, 14 August 2007 11:15:30 PM
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there is an alternative, called 'democracy'. but it needs citizens, subjects(or whingers in the vernacular) can't do it.
Posted by DEMOS, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 7:22:10 AM
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The underlying problem, as the article points out, is the difficulty of attracting suitable doctors to Tasmania. There are many untried methods of doing this available to the Federal Government; one would be to make the world-wide income of persons occupying specified medical positions tax exempt. This could well result in experienced and wealthy overseas doctors offering to fill the positions for no payment.

As the population of the west ages, there will be more and more demand for medical services, and the tried and true law of supply and demand will determine who is serviced and who is left out.
Posted by plerdsus, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 9:49:15 AM
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Is the Mersey the stalking horse for all other public hospitals ?

The Medicare agreement is due for renegotiation in 2008 so will a re-elected Howard Government make the same sort of offer for all public hospitals ? And force AWAs on to health workers at the same time ?

First corporatise then privatise...
Posted by westernred, Wednesday, 15 August 2007 4:24:04 PM
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Where have you prophets of doom come from? The Labor Party?
My experience of State health care has been a nightmare of diverted Commonwealth funds to hospital CEO and State minster's pet schemes denying essential care to those people intended for funding.

Having the Commonwealth directly involved in running a hospital you can bet the money will be spent where it is intended to go.

It may be the case that disgruntled health workers will be beating a path to this hospital where they know the funds they submit for will be spent and not hived off or stalled by being shifted onto the short term money market, or spent an administrators bright ideas or diverted to cover shortages in other areas.
Posted by Barfenzie, Monday, 20 August 2007 7:09:09 PM
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Well written Richo!

The key factor remains that the services tagged for removal from Mersey are unsustainable. It is not just a matter of effectiveness in recruitment, incompetence at funding state wide or colossal incompetence of the local bureaucracy in D'port. It is a number of specialist cases thing purely and simply.

Have a look at the “Leap Frog” studies out of North America. Makes it fairly plain for any thinking person irrespective of their leanings.

People will die out of this
Posted by Greeny-66, Monday, 20 August 2007 10:03:56 PM
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