Australian Medical Association - Tasmania

11/09/2026

AMA Tasmania President Dr Meg Creely spoke with Kylie Baxter on ABC Radio DRIVE about Tasmania’s unacceptable colonoscopy wait times with some patients waiting months, or even years, just to get an outpatient appointment before they can join the colonoscopy list.

Dr Creely said GPs are seeing patients wait three to nine months even for direct-access colonoscopies, while category one patients may need cancer excluded. With bowel cancer the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Tasmania.

AMA Tasmania is calling for practical action now: listen to doctors, properly map and train the workforce, increase capacity, and invest in the infrastructure Tasmania’s health system needs.

Every number on a waiting list is a person. Tasmanians deserve timely access to essential care. Listen here - https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/hobart-drive/drive/107122458?utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared

09/09/2026

"No system is perfect," AMA Tasmania president Dr Meg Creely said.

"But we should always be aiming for something that is much, much better than one in three missing out!

Have you been waiting for an elective surgery in Tasmania?

Thirty per cent of elective surgery patients in the state won't need to be treated within their clinically recommended time frame, under a new Health Department performance target.

Story here: https://ab.co/4xdfUtk

07/09/2026

Is Tasmania becoming the state of waiting? For too many women, it is starting to feel that way.

As Dr Meg Creely has made clear, unacceptable gynaecology wait times are creating a deeply unfair system for Tasmanian women, leaving many waiting in pain, uncertainty and distress for care that should be timely and accessible.

AMA Tasmania raised the alarm last week on elective surgery waits, and this is another example of the same problem: Tasmanians waiting too long for essential care.

From gynaecology to maternity services and regional access, women’s health must be planned and funded as core health care not treated as an optional extra.

Tasmanian women deserve timely treatment, local access where possible, real choice and a system that listens. The Government must act before more women are left waiting. Read more here - https://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/unacceptable-gynaecology-waits-creating-deeply-unfair-system-for-tasmanian-women/news-story/63609ecd38a94a8d192ead2ba34794b7

06/09/2026

Elective surgery delays aren’t just percentages on a dashboard. They are a measure of a system failing too many Tasmanians.

Every delayed operation means someone living longer with pain, uncertainty, lost work, worsening health, or avoidable stress on their family.

The Government has now set a target to get 70 per cent of elective surgeries done within the clinically recommended time. But Tasmanians should be asking: why are we accepting that nearly one in three patients may still wait too long?

Tasmania needs more than targets. We need funded theatre capacity, enough beds, a workforce plan that keeps doctors here, and a public-private system that actually works for patients.

This ABC podcast is worth a listen. It cuts through the blame game and gets to the issue that matters: Tasmanians are waiting too long for care they need.

Patients should not be left paying the price for poor system planning.

01/09/2026

AMA Tasmania is calling on the Tasmanian Government to guarantee that women experiencing serious and complex perinatal mental illness can continue to receive dedicated specialist psychiatric care alongside their babies, where clinically safe, as changes to mother and baby services proceed.

01/09/2026

“Elective surgery” sounds optional. It isn’t. These are operations people need for cancer, serious pain, worsening illness, and conditions that stop them living their lives.

For Category 1 patients, the most urgent group, the target should be simple: zero people waiting too long.
Instead, Tasmania is being asked to accept that up to 30% of patients can wait beyond the clinically recommended timeframe. Never before have we accepted that. We shouldn’t start now. Lowering the target doesn’t fix the waiting list. It hides the failure.

Tasmanians deserve care on time not a health system that moves the goalposts.

01/09/2026

Picture yourself here; looking out over the garden and enjoying the company of colleagues. Join AMA Tasmania and Dr Meg Creely at Prospect House for a special Women in Medicine High Tea, bringing together our doctor members for an afternoon of conversation and conviviality, with Her Excellency the Honourable Caroline Wells, Governor of Tasmania, as our guest. Reserve your place now. - events.humanitix.com/women-in-medicine-high-tea

01/09/2026

The Tasmanian Health system is not coping and instead of the government having a plan to fix it, the bar is being lowered. Elective surgery is not “optional” for the people waiting in pain. Tasmanians deserve timely care, not delay built into the plan. https://www.ama.com.au/articles/elective-surgery-rationing-delay

29/08/2026

Dr Michael Bonning, former President of AMA NSW and a GP, has been elected as the next President of the federal Australian Medical Association at the AMA's national conference in Melbourne. The AMA's current emergency department representative Dr Sarah Whitelaw has been elected as Vice President.

Congratulations to Dr Bonning and Dr Whitelaw who will begin their roles on Monday 2 November.