TASMANIA is spending less than the national average on health per person, despite being given extra federal money for the needs of an older, sicker and poorer population.
The finding comes in a new independent report that shows the state is diverting hundreds of millions of dollars in GST revenue away from its target: health.
Prepared by independent health policy analyst Martyn Goddard, the report says Tasmania is allocated extra health funds by the Commonwealth Grants Commission to compensate for the extra needs of the population. That extra money will amount to $169 million this financial year – $84 million for inpatient care and $85 million for out-of-hospital services such as community clinics, prevention programs and outpatient departments.
Mr Goddard said other states given extra money were the Northern Territory and South Australia.
“They are spending the extra money on health, but we are not,” he said.
According to the report, the loss to Tasmania’s health budget meant up to 16,000 patients go untreated every year.
Health Minister Michael Ferguson yesterday asked the Health Department to review the scathing findings and report back to him.
Mr Ferguson said the report “highlights the challenges we face, but which the former government ignored. As a result, we have a health system which often fails Tasmanians”.
He said the Liberal Government was committed to shifting resources from “the back-room bureaucracy to frontline services”.
According to the report, Tasmania spends an average of $1463 per capita on health – compared with $1862 in South Australia and $3984 in the Northern Territory. The national average per person is $1473.
The report says the extra GST money allocated to Tasmania’s health system is used to prop up the government’s general budgetary position.
“The money – that has been taken from other states and given to us because of our health needs – is spent on many things. But it goes nowhere near our hospitals or our other state health services,” Mr Goddard said.
“The result of this sleight-of-hand is devastating to our health system and to the patients who rely on it.”
Mr Goddards’ report also shows that Tasmania is carrying the financial burden of more than its fair share of deaths. Tasmania has 3 per cent of Australia’s deaths, despite comprising only 2.3 per cent of the population.
The extra deaths are costing the state $30 million a year more than if deaths were evenly distributed across Australia.