Because the public health system in this region currently does not offer ultrasound as one of its services, pensioners and low income earners are having to access ultrasound from the one private radiology provider based in Wagga Wagga. Bulk billing for ultrasound is denied to all patients forcing pensioners and people with scant resources to pay hundreds of dollars up front. The fee for breast imaging, for example, is $243.

This has caused many people acute financial difficulty and in some cases I am aware that patients have gone with out having treatment because they couldn't afford it. This is outrageous!

To add insult to injury, in most cases patients are having to travel to Wagga Wagga for ultrasound (and other radiology) because the machine located at Tumut Hospital cannot perform many of the required examinations. This means people have to arrange their own private transport, and in some cases this causes great difficulty. If patients can get a lift to Canberra, they can be bulk billed and have their results to take home the same day.

All this is bad enough, but there is more.

Does everyone know that Wagga Wagga Base Hospital, serving the largest inland city n NSW; is without an ultraound machine? In-patients Lave apparently been ferried across the road to the private radiology clinic by hospital ran sport (at the hospital's expense).

What a ridiculous situation! I, with the support of the local medical fraternity, have been lobbying all parties responsible for this situation. We will continue our "meaningful discussions" until good sense prevails.

However, any support from the people of this district, specially those who have had difficulty accessing and paying for radiology services, would be greatly appreciated.

Write to this paper. Write to your local MPs. Write to the health dept. Talk to your doctor. Talk to John Laws if you like.

But please, don't continue to meekly accept this below par health service. Country people are not second class citizens and should not put up with being treated as such. We need a new hospital. We need a new base hospital in Wagga Wagga. We need a medical school specialising in rural medicine at Charles Sturt University Wagga Wagga.

And we need affordable and accessible ultrasound as a basic health service here in Tumut.

Yours etc

Sue Swann Carey St, Tumut

Tumut & Adelong Times

Friday September 2, 2005