Articles by Mackenzie Heard

Health

More than 90 patients 'stranded' in Tasmanian hospitals

More than 90 Tasmanians are unable to leave hospitals across the state because they cannot access aged care or NDIS support, the state government says. As of September 2025, 73 aged care patients were medically cleared to leave Tasmanian hospitals, but unable to because there were no aged care places available. Another 23 patients were medically cleared to leave hospital, but were waiting for NDIS access and supports. The Tasmanian government said some patients had been stuck in hospitals for nearly six months, with delays costing the Tasmanian health system $71.8 million in the 2024-25 financial year. Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the delays were "not good enough" Australian Medical Association Tasmania president Michael Lumsden-Steel said the numbers reflected the strain on the healthcare system. "It's not good enough when we don't have the funding to actually build the resources, to maintain infrastructure, to build new infrastructure, and provide pathways for those that are most vulnerable," Dr Lumsden-Steel said. "This is about reforming a system, and to reform a system, we need funding." Calls to increase funding Mr Rockliff and Dr Lumsden-Steel stood alongside one another in Hobart on Sunday, calling on the federal government to commit to more hospital funding under the National Health Reform Agreement. A funding arrangement for state and territory public hospitals was first agreed in principle in 2023 and included an increase in federal funding to 45 per cent of public hospitals by 2035. The federal government's current offer is an additional $20 billion over five years. While the federal government says this is a $7 billion increase from its 2023 offer, state and territory leaders say the federal government's latest offer is equivalent to just 35 per cent of costs. Mr Rockliff says by "reneging" on the commitment of 45 per cent funding, Tasmania would be $673 million worse off over the next five years. Dr Lumsden-Steel warned that the amount was something the state could not afford to cover. "I don't know how Jeremy is going to afford to build all the new facilities he needs to build." Federal government says negotiations are continuing A federal government spokesperson told the ABC the federal government was negotiating with states to finalise the 2023 National Cabinet deal on hospital funding and NDIS reforms. The spokesperson said the federal government had increased Tasmanian hospital system funding by 14 per cent in this financial year, an additional $93 million, taking total funding for Tasmanian hospitals to $750 million in 2025-26. AMA says 45 per cent not enough Dr Lumsden-Steel said even if the federal government met the 45 per cent funding target, it would still not be enough. "The feds need to step up here. The feds need to reform how they're funding the states — I'd go so far as to say 45 per cent is not enough, the feds are not funding enough of healthcare." He also called for a broader conversation on health system reform. "At the moment, our system is so stretched, there's no recoil in our system, there's no bounce back, there's no elasticity, because we don't have any capacity to surge. We are running at capacity. "We're probably close to a billion dollars a year short in healthcare in terms of infrastructure, and all the other things we need to do." Tasmanian Labor health spokesperson Sarah Lovell said while the federal government had a role to play, increased federal funding was not a "silver bullet".