2022 AMA Tasmania Federal Election Advocacy Platform

With COVID-19 continuing to require a strong focus on health, we must not forget other pressing priorities in our health system, from general practice to support for our acute hospitals. Tasmania’s health system is failing its people. 

Very few GPs can afford to offer bulk billing, many practices have closed their books and the number of GP vacancies are rising exponentially, and therefore patients are being left behind. As a result, Tasmanians are getting sicker and delaying care until they require an emergency department assessment. 

Our hospital inpatient beds are full, and our emergency departments bed blocked. Elective surgery and outpatient waiting lists are blowing out, and ambulances are frequently ramped. Healthcare professionals are burning out, and recruitment is getting harder. 

Fewer medical interns are choosing the general practice pathway, depleting an already stretched and overworked system. With an older, sicker population, something must change. As a funder of health services and contributor to state provided health services, the federal government is critical in all aspects.