Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think we can all agree that few things are more important than the health of our family and friends. That is why I have made fighting for better healthcare for our community one of my top priorities as the member for Greenway. Blacktown-Mt Druitt Hospital is one hospital with two campuses physically located in the electorates of Greenway and Chifley respectively but servicing patients from both.

Two weeks ago I met with senior staff at Blacktown Hospital—Professor Peter Zelas, the executive medical director for Blacktown Hospital, and Kate Murphy, the hospital’s acting general manager—to discuss the future healthcare needs of our local community. It was a great opportunity to listen to and exchange ideas with the hospital about their strategic plan to meet the health needs of our community and to see how I, as their representative in the federal parliament, could be the most effective advocate to deliver the best outcomes for residents in west and north-west Sydney.

I previously served as a director of the Sydney West Area Health Service, so I know there is growing demand for health services in our region and the challenges of service delivery in an area of both rapidly expanding population and, unfortunately, some of the highest presentation and mortality rates in areas such as cardiovascular disease and respiratory illness. As I said in my first speech in this place, our community is Australia’s nursery, with eight per cent of the population under the age of five, which is second only to the Northern Territory. Significant greenfield residential development is currently occurring in north-west Sydney, particularly in my electorate and the neighbouring electorate of Chifley. Indeed, it is a statistical fact that the population growth in the Blacktown local government area far exceeds that of the Parramatta local government area in which Westmead Hospital is located. According to the NSW Department of Health’s Demand and Performance Evaluation branch, Blacktown-Mt Druitt Hospital has one of the highest levels of emergency department presentations—higher than Westmead Hospital, higher than RPA and higher than Nepean Hospital. The need for more resources at Blacktown Hospital is further highlighted by the fact that there is, at any one time, a high level of patients from the Blacktown local government area in Westmead Hospital. As such, it is clear that the community I represent is a region in great need of the best-quality health services.

The government’s historic health reforms provide the perfect opportunity to address these disparities and respond to the growing health needs of west and north-west Sydney. It is an opportunity we cannot afford to squander. We must get it right. In particular, a guaranteed majority level of Commonwealth funding; the establishment of local health networks; and, activity based funding will enable us to address these concerns by ensuring that health services are properly resourced and allocated as efficiently as possible. Hospitals will also have new national standards to meet in areas such as elective surgery, emergency departments and safety and quality of care.

I think it is also important to remind ourselves that it was only in April this year that the historic COAG agreement was reached, whereby the Commonwealth government became the majority funder of services, capital and research and training in our public hospitals. I have been in ongoing discussions with the minister for health and she has been a frequent visitor to Blacktown Hospital during and post the federal election. I thank the minister for the interest she has shown in the health needs of my electorate and I am sure the member for Chifley echoes my sentiments. We look forward to working with her to deliver more services for the residents of west and north-west Sydney. And from my discussions with local health administrators, it is clear they also want to work with the government to ensure that our community has the health services we need to meet projected population growth and to help address the geographic disparities that currently exist in health outcomes.

I am particularly encouraged by the objectives of Blacktown Hospital to pursue a variety of modes of care that reflect, for example, the importance of preventative health measures. The figure that has been quoted to me by the hospital is that for every notional health dollar that is spent, a mere two cents is invested in preventative health and the remainder is spent on treatment. It is my objective to work with my colleague the member for Chifley and with the staff of Blacktown Hospital to ensure better health services are delivered.

It is my objective to build on the already significant investments that have been made by the Commonwealth government to local health services. These include $15 million for the Blacktown GP superclinic to take the pressure off Blacktown Hospital’s emergency department; $17.6 million for the construction of the University of Western Sydney’s clinical school and research and education centre at Blacktown Hospital which will train more doctors, nurses and health professionals for Western Sydney; $4.2 million for 18 additional beds at Blacktown Hospital, including six new acute beds and 12 new emergency beds; and $854,000 for new equipment at Blacktown Hospital, including a new defibrillator, heart-monitoring and breathing machines and urological equipment. Local residents can be assured that I have been and will continue to be a strong fighter on their behalf to improve local health services in Greenway. (Time expired)