A review of the administration of the health services in Tasmania

The term \Health Services\" embraces a multitude of activities. It also covers a multitude of organisational sins. Since 1945 when the Executive in its wisdom decided to appoint a Director of Hospital and Medical Services a Director of Tuberculosis and.a Director of Mental Hygiene in addition to the existing position of Director of Public Health and then placed a layman the Secretary in the position of Permanent Head the sorry tale of disorganisation has increased in woe year by year until the situation as it exists in 1959 threatens a complete breakdown. My criticism of the arrangements made in 1945 has nothing to do with the appointment of a layman as Permanent Head indeed I consider a trained and experienced lay administrator to have a better chance of success than the average.medical practitioner. It is to the lack of foresight shown by those senior officers charged with advising the Government that I allude. Knowing that the Public Health Act of 1935 was framed to give wide powers to an officer also endowed with the authority of a Permanent Head under the Public Service Act1923 those senior officers apparently saw no incompatibility between the powers of the Director of Public Health now to be a subordinate officer and the new Permanent Head. If they did foresee difficulties then it seems that they took the line of least resistance by hoping that the new arrangement would be made to work somehow; but the fact remains that the Office of Director of Public Health retained all its public health powers when it became a subordinate position and thereby provided fertile ground for clashes of personality with a Permanent Head be he layman or medico."