Australian Medical Association - Tasmania

01/11/2026

30/10/2026

Our members recently hung up their scrubs and stethoscopes for the evening and joined Tasmania's parliamentarians under the grand old roof of Parliament House for our annual AMA Tasmania Parliamentary Dinner.

The dinner is a chance for open, honest conversation. It's where our doctors can share what's really happening in our hospitals, clinics and communities. It also makes sure the people making decisions understand what those decisions mean for patients, families and health workers on the ground.

What's said at the table stays at the table. But the message goes with everyone who attended: Tasmanians deserve a health system that puts people first. (So yes, we were technically still on the advocacy clock).

There was a real hum in the room: the kind you only get when people who care deeply about the same thing sit down and talk honestly. Thank you to everyone who joined us. Tasmania's public health system needs a reset. A Commission of Inquiry will provide the way.

29/10/2026

Too many Australians are facing long waits for specialist care, with growing numbers delaying or forgoing treatment altogether.

Workforce shortages, inadequate public outpatient capacity, declining Medicare support, and weaknesses in private health insurance arrangements are all contributing to worsening patient access and rising out-of-pocket costs.

If the government is serious about tackling access and affordability issues in healthcare, they need to look at the structural drivers of costs across the entire system rather than searching for a single cause or a single solution.

Read more: https://www.ama.com.au/content/media-releases/Articles/2026/System-wide-issues-driving-access-and-affordability-issues.aspx

29/10/2026

Why Tasmania needs an inquiry into our health system. Our health system is under real pressure. The people who work in it every day are calling for an independent Commission of Inquiry. Here's why it matters:
• Build for today's needs. Stop spending money patching up old hospitals. Invest in health buildings that are fit for purpose and meet what Tasmanians actually need.
• Our emergency departments are full. Every day, people who can't get care elsewhere end up in ED, and often there's no room for them because the whole system is overflowing.
• Spend smarter. Sometimes spending a little now saves a lot later. It's about putting our health dollars where they'll do the most good.
• Truth, not blame. This crisis has gone on under many governments. This isn't about politics or pointing fingers. It's about understanding what's really going wrong, and why.
• Inquiries can make a real difference. The Commission of Inquiry for children brought hard truths to light and helped make hospitals, schools and government departments safer for kids. This inquiry can make health care safer for everyone.
The big questions are simple: Where are we now? Where do we want to be? And how do we get there?
This is about your family, your parents and your friends. Let's do the right thing for our community.

29/10/2026

Australian Medical Association Tasmania branch president Dr Meg Creely said the data was "pretty grim".

"Having talked to a few of my colleagues, we think there's really two main factors that really impact on the results," Dr Creely said.

Those were "a higher rate of chronic disease and frailty", meaning "we have a population who are coming into an operation already in a state that makes them higher risk" and a lack of consistent, orthogeriatrics service, which is "essentially the standard of care across the country".

The data was impacted by two main factors, AMA president says.

29/10/2026

Dr Meg Creely, President, AMA Tasmania When someone we love needs urgent medical help, we want to know help will come. When we wait for surgery or a specialist appointment, we want to know our turn will come.

29/10/2026

A bed without a nurse is a closed bed. AMA Tasmania President, Dr Meg Creely, has thrown the strong support of the AMA Tasmania behind today's Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) stop work action over proposed nursing cuts to the Royal Hobart Hospital's Emergency Medical Unit (EMU), warning that patients, not budgets, will pay the price. Read full release here: https://www.ama.com.au/content/media-releases/Articles/TAS/A-bed-without-a-nurse-is-a-closed-bed.aspx

29/10/2026

When "crisis" becomes normal, it's time to ask why. Our President, Dr Meg Creely, joined Leon Compton on Tasmania Mornings with Dr Frank Niklason from the RHH Staff Association to talk about why Tassie needs an independent Commission of Inquiry into our health system.

Meg's message: people are working incredibly hard, and we've had review upon review upon review. What we're still not getting to is the underlying reason why. Not another review. A different question. Listen here:

Tasmania Mornings presenter Leon Compton speaks to two health professionals about why a commission of inquiry into the health system is needed and what it could achieve.

28/10/2026

Radio studio. Government House. The Royal Hobart ED. Parliament House. One message all day: there must be a better way, and an independent inquiry will give us that blueprint.

What a day for our President, Dr Meg Creely!

* In the studios of ABC with Leon Compton, making the case for an independent Commission of Inquiry into Tassie's health system.

* At Government House to officially meet our new Governor.

* In the Royal Hobart ED with our members, talking about the planned nurse cuts to EMU. Our ED doctors were clear: a bed without a nurse is a closed bed. EMU keeps patients moving, helps older Tasmanians get home safely, and gives families a quiet place to say goodbye. Cut it now, and patients pay the price.

* At Parliament House for her first Parliamentary Dinner as President, telling MPs what we need and why.

Everywhere Meg went yesterday, she asked the same question: after so many reviews, so much money and so many people working so hard, why do the same problems keep coming back? When a patient isn't getting better, good doctors stop and get a fresh opinion. Our health system deserves the same. Not blame. Not delay. Just a conversation before a verdict.

Thanks to Leon, Her Excellency, our ED colleagues, the Minister and every MP who stopped to listen. A patient experiences one journey. It's time we built a system that does too.

28/10/2026

Stand up for proper EMU staffing. Proposed EMU cuts threaten the staffing we need to protect our services, our colleagues, and our patients.