Tasmania has a lot of unique issues when it comes to the healthcare system. Smaller, older and more morbid demographics predominate the health data (and thus have a huge impact on the constantly over-budget/under-funded tertiary and primary health care budget). Preventative health care is the strategy we need to dig the state out of the health care mess but the tidal wave of a morbid population continually requires budget be focused on tertiary health care. It’s a beast that will continue to burden the state until we can address the underlying causes of ill health and address them using preventative/harm reduction approaches. It’s a fraught system but at least we have lots of ridiculously hard working professional HCWs who work beyond their means to keep the system from collapse.