Tasmanian health services reduce elective open heart surgeries to just two per week due to ongoing strikes by clinical perfusionists, critical specialists needed for these procedures. Emergency operations continue uninterrupted, but planned surgeries face major delays as the four professionals enforce work bans that started in February.
Role of Clinical Perfusionists in Heart Surgery
Clinical perfusionists maintain patient life support during open heart surgeries using advanced heart-lung machines. Dr. Ghaz Jabur, Head of Clinical Perfusion at Royal Hobart Hospital, explains: “We take over the function of the heart and the lungs during open heart surgery by using quite advanced technology and machinery, specifically the heart-lung machine, or the bypass machine. And then we stop the heart from our end, give the heart drugs, and then the heart gets fixed, and at the end we win.”
With only three perfusionists and one trainee, on-call demands prove intense. Dr. Jabur notes: “We do one in three weekdays and one in three weekends on call. Not only that, just because a person is on call, it doesn’t mean that sometimes other people that are not on call are needed. That’s happened multiple times, where I’ve got my kids on my lap sitting in my lounge and I get a call saying we need help, and I’ve got to just drop everything and go.”
Pay Disputes and Risk of Staff Exodus
The specialists seek better pay and conditions amid Tasmania’s aging population, which drives rising demand for cardiac care. Negotiations with the state government stall, prompting threats to relocate. Dr. Jabur warns: “If there are no perfusionists, there is no heart surgery, and people will have to be transferred to the mainland. People who are very sick, it will be very hard for them to transport them to the mainland. They’re unstable, and it will be a logistical nightmare, let alone the financial implications that will go with that.”
Trainee perfusionist Ed Okey, a lifelong Tasmanian, struggles with the choice: “I’ve been in Tassie my whole life, it’s where I want to live, where I want to raise kids and have my life. But then if you look interstate and see the pay disparity, at the top end it’s up to 80 per cent more when it comes to money, and better working conditions, more annual leave if you work extra on call, allowances for if you do higher education, things like that that don’t exist down here.” He adds that outdated claims about lower Tasmanian living costs no longer hold in the current economy.
Government Response with Locum Hires
The health department reschedules delayed procedures and explores options to boost surgery volumes, including locum perfusionists. This approach draws criticism from local staff. Dr. Jabur questions: “How can you justify bringing locums in for a very short period of time when that money could actually go towards our contract, and almost entirely fund what we need for the three year period, I just don’t understand the logic. If you have no money, how can you approve locum perfusion—and I know how much locums earn, because I was one of them.”
Tasmanian Health Minister Bridget Archer states: “The Tasmanian government values all our health care workers and want to see them get a pay rise as soon as possible. We will continue to negotiate in good faith and hope to have a resolution soon.”
Wider Industrial Action Across Tasmania
Strikes expand through the Health and Community Services Union (HACSU), affecting building services, environmental services, pharmacy, mental health, and more at facilities like Beaconsfield District Hospital and Mersey Community Hospital. HACSU state secretary Robbie Moore observes: “I have never seen a situation where you have got such widespread industrial action. And it’s nearly always happening because the government has said they’ll do one thing, and then they don’t do it. This is a situation where the workforce has absolutely lost confidence in the government and management. This needs an intervention.” Workers demand safer conditions, better pay parity with other states, and stronger supports.
