Mayors united in calling for independent investigation into rural health support

The mayors of three councils in the North West have united to call for an independent investigation into Hunter New England Health’s support of, commitment to, and consultation with rural and remote communities regarding their local hospitals.

Narrabri Shire mayor Darrell Tiemens has been supported in the move, following last week’s community meeting in relation to proposed changes to pathology services at Narrabri Hospital, by Gunnedah Shire mayor Jamie Chaffey and Moree Plains Shire mayor Mark Johnson.

Cr Tiemens praised Health Minister Ryan Park for pausing the rollout of changes at Narrabri Hospital and acknowledged the immediate concerns about the proposed changes to pathology services.

The mayors have called on Mr Park to initiate the independent inquiry.

“Minister Park has shown commendable interest so far. However, it’s time that this organisation was held to account,” Cr Tiemens said.

“Our community deserves better than for bureaucrats at Hunter New England Health to dictate the level of care we receive at our hospital”.

A call for action has been strongly supported in the community, with an estimated 500 community members attending a meeting at the Narrabri RSL Club last Tuesday night.

Despite an invitation to attend the meeting, Hunter New England Health was not represented on the night.

However, NSW Pathology did address to the crowd.

During the meeting, five motions were unanimously adopted by the audience:

“1. We call on The Hon Ryan Park, the Health Minister, to initiate a fully independent inquiry into the proposal to close or downgrade the pathology lab at Narrabri Hospital.

“2. We call on Hunter New England Health to upgrade services that have bypassed Narrabri Hospital, including stroke diagnostics, onsite mental health services, improved oncology  services, onsite dialysis machines, and equivalent technologies.

“3. We call on Hunter New England Health to restore both the Boggabri and Wee Waa Hospitals to the same service level they provided five years ago.

“4. We call on The Hon Ryan Park, the Health Minister, to initiate an independent review into Hunter New England Health’s support for remote and rural hospitals.

“5. The Narrabri community has no confidence in the current consultation process.”

This issue is symptomatic of health officials who fail to engage with regional areas. – Gunnedah Shire mayor Jamie Chaffey

Mayor of Gunnedah Shire, Cr Jamie Chaffey, highlighted the severe impacts on his community when he addressed last week’s community meeting.

“Our community has faced serious cutbacks at our hospital, including the closure of our only pathology lab. We don’t want what happened to Gunnedah Hospital to happen in Narrabri,” said Cr Chaffey.

“This issue is symptomatic of health officials who fail to engage with regional areas and understand the unique needs of towns like Gunnedah and Narrabri”.

Mayor of Moree Plains Shire Council, Cr Mark Johnson, expressed his support for an independent inquiry.

“The community of Moree Plains Shire stands with Narrabri Shire in their frustration over the lack of consultation,” said Cr Johnson.

“This appears to be a widespread problem within the organisation, and it needs to end. The Health Minister has the power to investigate Hunter New England Health, and we fully back calls to maintain levels of service at Narrabri Hospital”.

In regards to proposed pathology changes in Narrabri, Health Minister Ryan Park agreed urgent consultation with clinicians, staff and community will take place.

“No decisions have been made about the future pathology service model,” Mr Park said.