MEDIA RELEASE: Health Minister must listen to AMA’s Commission of Inquiry request

Helen Burnet calls on the Minister for Health to listen to the AMA's request for a Commission of Inquiry

Helen Burnet, Independent Member for Clark and former health practitioner, has urged the Minster for Health to listen to the Australian Medical Association in Question Time today.
 
"The fact that the AMA has taken the extraordinary step of calling for a Commission of Inquiry into Tasmania’s health system speaks to the depth of its frustration with the state of our health system and its concerns about the way it is being managed.
 
This seems lost on the Minister, who immediately dismissed the call, saying it will cost too much, and will take too long, and wont tell us anything we don’t already know. In other words, “it's under control…nothing can be done, everything is fine”.
 
Well, it's not. Patients know it's not, those in the health system know it's not.
 
A Commission of Inquiry would review the entire system. This is much bigger than any of the limited reviews that have happened so far.
 
We know that the AMA is calling for this, and that has to be respected and listened to.
 
If the Minister is concerned about the cost and length of the Commission of Inquiry, why not propose a different option. 
 
If the Minister for Health is acting in good faith, I expect she would meet with the AMA and to understand their concerns, and discuss how best to get the answers to those concerns.   But to simply reject the call out of hand is unacceptable, and dereliction of duty. 
 
This is an incredibly important matter and the Minister for Health needs to actually listen to what the AMA are saying and have a public conversation about how we can get the answers to the huge problems our health system is facing.
 
Something drastically different is needed, a whole state-wide, system wide review is needed, and until the Minister admits that, the crises will continue coming."