Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to bring to the attention of members the concerns of residents in the Bellingen shire about the future of their hospital. Earlier this month a public meeting was held in Bellingen to form a new group Save our Services—SOS—which aims to halt any plans to close the hospital or further erode services.

Residents of the Bellingen shire have every reason to be worried about the future of their hospital. The bureaucracy which runs the hospital, the North Coast Area Health Service, has a long track record of overpromising and underdelivering. For example, for years the local community has been fighting the area health service over the provision of maternity services. The Chief Executive Officer of the North Coast Area Health Service, Chris Crawford, promised the community that maternity services would be maintained at Bellingen, but the reality is that the services have been allowed to be run down. In 2008 there were 50 births at the hospital. This year there has been just one—and the last birth occurred in May. Despite this, Chris Crawford continues to promise the community that maternity services will be restored. He says his hands are tied as he is awaiting the response to the Garling report. But this is nothing more than a hollow bureaucratic excuse.

What is causing great concern is speculation that the area health service’s real plan is to close the hospital. Recent media reports highlighted doctor concerns that a state government taskforce has recently visited Bellingen hospital as part of an overall review of the future of smaller regional hospitals. Doctors understand that one of the options on the table is to close the hospital. To some medical professionals, the area health service strategy appears to be to let services and infrastructure get so run down that the hospital will have to be closed for safety reasons. As local doctor Fi Lam recently pointed our in a local newspaper, over the past four years the number surgical procedures has dropped from 800 to 200 per year. The hospital is being used as a defacto palliative care ward for patients from Coffs Harbour and this is skewing data the bureaucrats will use in any determination of the hospital’s future.

Bellingen hospital is a vital part of the shire, and under no circumstances should it be closed down. We have all been reminded of the importance of the hospital after suffering five flood events this year. When Bellingen receives vast amounts of rain, the town becomes isolated and it is essential that the community is self-sufficient. Bellingen residents cannot rely on Coffs Harbour hospital and should not be expected to travel 30 kilometres to access health services. In flood events, it is impossible to get to Coffs Harbour. The Bellingen community fully supports the hospital and the staff who work there. The shire population is growing and the demand for hospital services is increasing. It therefore makes no sense to withdraw services and allow hospital infrastructure to fall into a state of disrepair.

Whilst the New South Wales government is responsible for the administration of this hospital, it is Kevin Rudd who must take responsibility because, at the 2007 election, Kevin Rudd told the Australian people that the buck would stop with him on health. He said he would end the blame game. He promised to take over public hospitals if the state government did not improve its performance by 30 June 2009. Well, the Rudd government celebrated its second anniversary this week, and the only thing that can be said about our public health system is that it has got worse. In question time recently, the Prime Minister was unable to mention one hospital which he had fixed. Medical staff are being asked to do more with less. Jobs are being cut right across the region, and the area health services are not paying their bills. It now appears that, to cover their mismanagement, the response from the bureaucracy is to cut services to smaller hospitals in regional areas.

After promising so much to the Australian people, Kevin Rudd cannot allow this cut in services to occur. He must deliver on his promises. There is no need for more reviews. There is no need for more bureaucratic time wasting. It is time to act. The residents of Bellingen shire should not be forced to fight to retain their health services, which have been delivered in Bellingen for generations. Hospitals are a vital part of the local community, and governments need to understand that the demand for services on the North Coast is only going to increase.

I am calling on the Rudd government and the New South Wales Rees government to ensure that the Bellingen community hospital will not be shut down or further downgraded. We need to ensure that maternity services are provided into the future. We need to ensure that Bellingen hospital is upgraded, not downgraded or closed.