'Premier should honour his word' New hospitals needed urgently: Hodgkinson

MEMBER for Burrinjuck Katrina Hodgkinson, speaking in State Parliament, has called on the Premier to honour his promises to the people of Tumut, Adelong and Batlow to give the Tumut Hospital and the Adelong/Batlow MPS high priority.

Citing the state of the two hospitals as examples of the "gross under-funding of public health by a Sydney-centric Labor Government", Ms Hodgkinson said she had "lost count" of the number of times she had referred to the need for both these facilities to be replaced.

"Both the Tumut and Batlow hospital buildings are unsafe, inefficient and in need of immediate replacement," said Ms Hodgkinson.

"At the moment there is only one factor that is keeping the residents of Tumut and the Adelong Batlow area supplied with halfway decent health care - the dedication and commitment of the local medical and administrative staff who are forced to work in substandard buildings," she said.

She said she had been informed that in a Department of Health report of ten years ago the condition of the Tumut Hospital was described as poor and in need of replacement.

"The hospital is now described by the Tumut Health Services Plan as being in very poor condition and affecting the safety and efficiency of health services," she told her Parliamentary colleagues.

"The list is terrible: asbestos in buildings, holes in walls, water running down walls when it rains, lack of office space, varying floor levels causing tripping hazards, overcrowding in wards, poor resuscitation facilities in accident and emergency wards, unsanitary toilet and shower facilities, a lack of privacy particularly in maternity wards, restricted access to ultrasound facilities, and the list goes on," she said.

"One wonders if the hospital will actually have to fall down before any action eventuates from the NSW Labor Government."

Ms Hodgkinson said if it was possible, the Batlow Hospital was in even worse condition, with the disused building that used to be the Henty Hospital in better condition than the operating Batlow Hospital building.

"The Adelong Batlow multi-purpose services (MPS) centre has been in the planning stage since before I was elected to this place .... almost six years ago," she said.

"What has happened since then? The Adelong/Batlow MPS was supposed to be completed by 2003; then by 2006-07.

"Most recently, in response to my continued questioning, the Minister for Health said that the Adelong Batlow MPS will now be completed in 2007-08.

"On 21 May, 2004, Mr S. Butt, the Acting Manager of the Capital Works of the Greater Murray Area Health Service, informed the Tumut Hospital planning meeting that the Adelong/Batlow MPS was being prioritised behind that of Junee. When I raised this with the Minister for Health he denied that this was said to the residents ofTumut.

"This is just one of many examples of the misinformation and deceit that are characterising this Government's approach to providing a decent standard of public health."

Ms Hodgkinson told the House that on November 4 the Tumut & Adelong Times had carried an article in which an area health service spokesperson was quoted as saying there had never been a commitment to fund the Tumut Hospital redevelopment by 2007.

"I have personally spoken to the former Minister for Health, now the Premier, who looked me straight in the eye and said that the Tumut Hospital and the Adelong Batlow MPS would be given a high priority.

"The same occurred with the Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Southern Area Health Service, Mr Schneider, just after he had been appointed.

"What a load of lies that has turned out to be. The bottom line is that the NSW Labor Government has for the past 11 years failed to properly plan and fund public health facilities in southern NSW.

"The residents of Tumut do not believe what this Government or its health agencies say any more; they have been told too many lies."

Ms Hodgkinson drew attention to the fact that on one single day locals collected 1000 signatures, "15 per cent of the population of Tumut" - calling for the immediate building of a new hospital in Tumut.

"The Premier must honour his promises to the people of Tumut, Adelong and Batlow," she said.

"We need new hospitals in this part of Burrinjuck electorate; we need them urgently, and the funding must be provided now."

Tumut &Adelong Times

Tuesday, December 13, 2005