Staff at Tasmania’s only teaching hospital are angry there is no clinical member from the south on the governing council for the state’s new health organisation.
The nine member council includes two clinicians from the north and two from the north-west, with no representative from the Royal Hobart Hospital.
The omission smacks of parochialism, said Australian Medical Association state president Tim Greenaway.
“Unfortunately, the reaction from the Royal Hobart Hospital’s senior staff has been one of dismay and anger, not a little anger, that we could have done without when the structural reforms are so necessary,” he said.
He said the criteria for selection referred to regional representation.
“And they’ve failed their own test at the first hurdle and created a rod for their own backs,” he said.
Associate Professor Greenaway said the issue had the potential to destroy any goodwill inspired by the Government’s efforts to reform the health system.
But he distanced himself from critics of the decision to appoint an interim CEO for the new statewide service, calling it a sensible move under the circumstances.
The state’s three health organisations will merge to form the Tasmanian Health Service on July 1.