Frightening new Health Department data shows that over the past seven days on average, only a quarter of patients were seen within the clinically recommended time at the Royal Hobart Hospital Emergency Department.

Monday 17th August was a particularly bad day to get sick in Hobart, with only 14 per cent of patients seen within time.

It will give Tasmanians little comfort to know that just 19 per cent of Category 2 patients with “imminently life threatening” presentations and just three per cent of patients with Category 3 “potentially life threatening” presentations were seen within time that day. 

These stats are not a reflection of Tasmania’s healthcare professionals, who are doing everything they can to provide patients with the care they need, in the time they need it.  

They are a reflection of a government willing to make waiting in pain the standard. 

The emergency department at Tasmania’s largest hospital is at breaking point, yet Eric Abetz is blindly pushing forward with $700 million worth of cuts to our health system.

This will mean even longer waits. Even more pressure on staff. Even more stress for families. And even more Tasmanians left wondering whether their healthcare system will be there when they need it.

Every dollar cut from healthcare has a human cost, and Tasmanians will continue to pay the price for a system in crisis after 13 years of Liberal waste.