Prime Minister Gillard should use her visit to Tasmania today to commit to increasing funding for mental and dental care as well as emergency care, the Australian Greens said today.

"So many Tasmanians, particularly in the North and North West, desperately need dental and mental health care, but the Gillard government is leaving these people behind," Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne, said.

"Over ten thousand Tasmanians are on waiting lists for general dental care. This is completely unacceptable, causing untold health problems as well as pain and discomfort.

"I am sure that people in North and North West Tasmania will be pleased with new funding for emergency care, but they also want real support to stay out of hospital, with properly funded primary care including mental and dental."

Greens federal Denison candidate and emergency physician, Dr Geoff Couser, says Labor's pledge fails to address the strain on emergency wards through focusing only on staffing concerns.

"Whilst as an emergency physician I welcome the Prime Minister's interest in the vital and important field of medicine and nursing, simply increasing staffing numbers in isolation will not fix the complex problem of access block.

"Linking a policy initiate to a bureaucratic four hour target creates a false expectation for patients and staff which is irrelevant to the patient's clinical needs. The NHS in the UK has recognised that four hour targets have been a failure and is moving towards dismantling the process.

"Liberal and Labor simply lack the imagination to act on health reform as a whole."

Senator Milne says statistics show a desperate need for mental healthcare reform.

"I know I wasn't the only one to be shocked to hear Australian of the Year, Patrick McGorry, say on the weekend that one Australian commits suicide every four hours.

"This is an ongoing tragedy that we cannot ignore.

"Tasmanians who want to see Federal support for dental and mental care need to help the Greens achieve balance of power in the Senate so we can make sure the government delivers."