The State Government says the plan to return North-West maternity services to the public sector is on schedule to be completed by December.
An important step in the process will be the North West Maternity Employees Bill, which was tabled in Parliament yesterday.
Health Minister Guy Barnett says the bill will support a smooth transaction for healthcare workers from the North West Private Hospital to the Tasmanian Health Service, also ensuring no entitlements are lost through the transfer.
Maternity services from the Mersey Community Hospital at Latrobe and the North-West Regional Hospital in Burnie were centralised at the private hospital in 2016.
The Australian Medical Association raised the alarm in February this year saying maternity services at the private hospital were inefficient, ineffective and unsafe.
Unions and Labor soon joined the chorus, with the Government agreeing to transition services back to the public sector, initially saying it would take until December 2024, but backing down amid more criticism to bring it forward to the end of this year
