Legislative Council Thursday 1 July

Mr GAFFNEY question on behalf of Ms FORREST to LEADER of the GOVERNMENT in the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, Mrs HISCUTT

Regarding policy statements related to the 2021 election, specifically the policy delivering better health care for Tasmanians in the north-west, the statement notes:

The Tasmanian majority Liberal government has delivered more funding, more staff, and more health services than any government before. In the north-west of the state, this has delivered around 150 more staff including 94 extra full-time nurses, 22 additional doctors, and 6 more allied health professionals.

Questions are:

(1) How many north-west based staff in each category listed above were appointed in each year, listed separately since 2014?

(2) What is the net increase in north-west health staff across each area listed above?

(3) How many staff have resigned, retired or have, or have gone on long term sick leave in each of the areas listed since 2014?

ANSWER

Madam Deputy President, I thank the member for Mersey for bringing this forward, on your behalf. The answer to this question is heavy with tables, therefore I seek leave to table the answers and have them incorporated into Hansard.

Leave granted.

1 I am advised that previously the Department of Health reported staffing using paid FTE.  Information provided by the Department of Health in relation to staffing at the Mersey Community Hospital and the North West Regional Hospital reported that from June 2014 to August 2020 there was an increase of 6.94 paid FTE for Allied Health Professionals, an increase of 94.25 paid FTE for Nurses and an increase of 22.31 paid FTE for Salaried Medical Practitioners. 

Information as reported by the Department at this time, is provided in Table 1 below. 

I am further advised that since this time the Department of Health has worked to refine its staff reporting systems including the establishment of the Human Resource Information System which is currently under development. The Department has now moved away from reporting paid FTE as a proxy for staffing numbers. This change in reporting prevents an accurate comparison of data from previous years with current data reported below in response to the Member’s questions.

Using the new staff reporting systems the number of North West based staff, in each category listed above, appointed each year, since 2014 are listed below.

It should be noted that these figures are based on appointments by head count and do not include locums, existing fixed-term employees commencing a new contract in the North West, or existing permanent employees commencing in the North West via variation of duties. The figures also represent a specific point in time for each reporting period.

I am advised that:

Allied Health Professionals appointed:
- In 2013-14 there were 35
- In 2014-15 there were 19
- In 2015-16 there were 26
- In 2016-17 there were 27
- In 2017-18 there were 35
- In 2018-19 there were 31
- In 2019-20 there were 27
- In 2020-21 there are 36 as at 1 June.

Nurses appointed:
- In 2013-14 there were 53
- In 2014-15 there were 80
- In 2015-16 there were 57
- In 2016-17 there were 70
- In 2017-18 there were 71
- In 2018-19 there were 63
- In 2019-20 there were 74
- In 2020-21 there are 67 as at 1 June.

Salaried Medical Practitioners appointed:
- In 2013-14 there were 59
- In 2014-15 there were 50
- In 2015-16 there were 56
- In 2016-17 there were 62
- In 2017-18 there were 73
- In 2018-19 there were 78
- In 2019-20 there were 75
- In 2020-21 there are 65 as at 1 June.

2 I am advised that the net increase (using headcount) in North West health staff is 178 across the identified professions:
• Since 2013-14 there has been a net increase of 21 Allied Health Professionals, as at 1 June 2021.
• Since 2013-14 there has been a net increase of 58 Nurses, as at 1 June 2021.
• Since 2013-14 there has been a net increase of 99 Salaried Medical Practitioners, as at 1 June 2021.

It should again be noted a change in reporting prevents an accurate comparison of data from previous years.

3 I am advised that it is difficult to provide information in relation to specific categories of staff resignation, retirement and long-term sick leave without further significant manual extraction and analysis or refinement of data. Separations by headcount (excluding casual separations) for the North West across allied health, nursing and medical practitioners since 2014 are as follows:

For Allied Health Professionals:
- In 2013-14 there were 23 separations
- In 2014-15 there were 19
- In 2015-16 there were 22
- In 2016-17 there were 22
- In 2017-18 there were 21
- In 2018-19 there were 32
- In 2019-20 there were 35
- In 2020-21 there have been 30 separations as at 1 June.

For Nurses:
- In 2013-14 there were 53 separations
- In 2014-15 there were 74
- In 2015-16 there were 63
- In 2016-17 there were 60
- In 2017-18 there were 51
- In 2018-19 there were 69
- In 2019-20 there were 47
- In 2020-21 there have been 60 separations as at 1 June.

For Salaried Medical Practitioners:
- In 2013-14 there were 50 separations
- In 2014-15 there were 54
- In 2015-16 there were 50
- In 2016-17 there were 48
- In 2017-18 there were 52
- In 2018-19 there were 57
- In 2019-20 there were 57
- In 2020-21 there have been 51separations as at 1 June.