Meetings In Tasmania, Australia - The Hon Tony Abbott

August 9, 2007 – 7:54 pm | posted in Public Health

The Hon Tony Abbott said:

I met with the Tasmanian Health Minister in Launceston. The Commonwealth is keen to provide a detailed plan for the Mersey Hospital and its integration with health services in the North-West but can only do this effectively with access to information held by the State Government. To further discuss this, Commonwealth officials will meet with their State counterparts by Thursday at the latest.

I call on the Tasmanian Government to work collaboratively with the Commonwealth to deliver the best possible health services in the North-West region. This means making available up to date information on the hospital’s services.

I also met with professional staff at the Mersey Hospital and community leaders from the Mersey region. Finally, I met with regional leaders and clinical staff at Burnie.

I think it would be fair to say that there is overwhelming support for the Commonwealth Government’s proposal from people in the Mersey region. However, people in Burnie are understandably anxious about the impact that the Commonwealth proposal could have on the Tasmanian Government’s proposal to rationalise services across the region.

The Commonwealth Government is committed to ensuring that the Mersey Hospital is not downgraded and is working to establish a Commonwealth funded community-controlled public hospital there as soon as possible.

Still, it’s important to work with clinicians at Burnie Hospital too and I look forward to close consultation with them, provided they are allowed to do so by the State Government.

The Commonwealth recognises the importance of providing optimal delivery of clinical services for the North-West region and looks forward to the further consultations that will take place this week.

http://www.health.gov.au

Popularity: 1% [?]