Tasmania criticised for spending millions on temporary locums
The Tasmanian Government has spent millions of dollars on expensive temporary health workers in the past six months, right to information documents obtained by the ABC show.
A breakdown of the three regional health organisations shows $3,191,659 has been spent hiring locums in the north-west since June.
In the same period, $390,101 had been spent in the north, while $139,148 had been spent in the south since July.
Health analyst Martyn Goddard said the figures were unacceptable.
"The levels we're talking about are far too high and particularly in the north-west, that is on the verge of scandal," he said.
"It's a stupid way of spending money. They'd be much better off employing the people, recruiting those people."
Australian Medical Association spokesman Tim Greenaway blamed the problem on uncompetitive wages for doctors in Tasmania.
"The award in Tasmania is unsuitable, certainly uncompetitive, and people are basically refusing to work under it," he said.
"Someone at my level of seniority is between $50,000 and $150,000 a year worse off."
Government concedes locum use 'drives up cost' of health services
Acting Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff said the Liberal Government had inherited the problem.
"It was clear when we took government that the practice of using locums to deliver clinical services in the long term drives up the cost of delivering health services in Tasmania," he said.
He said the Government was undertaking public consultation to ensure better health services can be delivered more sustainably.
Mr Goddard estimated locums made thousands of dollars day as well as their cost of living.
"They can get $2,000 a day, plus a car, plus a house, plus all their transport," he said.
He believed the money could be better spent.
"That's money that should be used to treat patients, and it's not," he said.
"They should be able to recruit full-time staff a lot better than this."
Dr Greenaway said the current approach was not sustainable.
"We do not want to continue to rely on doctors paid special deals, that is unsustainable long term," he said.
