Labor has claimed that hundreds of Tasmanians are dying each year while on the waiting list for outpatient appointments in the public health system.
The opposition says that around one-third of the reduction in the waiting list claimed by the government is due to people dying before receiving their health appointment.
Information released under Right to Information laws shows that approximately 1,000 people die each year while on the waiting list, which was 56,386 in September.
Shadow Minister for Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing Anita Dow raised the issue in parliament on Thursday and criticised the government’s claims of delivering outstanding results.
“When a patient waits too long for treatment, their health deteriorates and their treatment can become less effective, leading to worse health outcomes and sadly sometimes even death,” Dow said in a statement.
“This costly delay not only causes immense stress for many Tasmanians but also costs taxpayers more as more sick people present to our emergency departments.”
But Health Minister Guy Barnett accused Labor of trying to scare Tasmanians and said that “no correlation can be drawn between a person’s cause of death and the circumstances to why they are on a waiting list”.
He said the party had “reached a disgraceful new low in misleading Tasmanians over the health system”.
“They have weaponised the death of Tasmanians on the outpatient waitlist. Labor has once again shown they have no policies, are only interested in scaring Tasmanians and continue to talk down our dedicated healthcare workers,” Barnett said.
“In the past 12 months, our hardworking health staff have delivered more than 550,000 outpatient appointments across Tasmania, with the vast majority of people on the waiting list seen in an outpatient setting rather than requiring inpatient admission.”
“They should be ashamed of themselves and correct the record immediately.”
