The voices of the thousands of people who have signed online and hard copy petitions, and the estimated 500 people who attended a community meeting in Narrabri, have been heard following the state government’s announcement pathology services will continue at the hospital.
Narrabri Hospital will continue to be home to an onsite laboratory and pathology staff will continue to work in their local communities.
The announcement was made late Friday afternoon by Minister for Regional Health Ryan Park and state Member for Barwon Roy Butler.
It was met as welcome news by Narrabri Shire Council mayor Darrell Tiemens who praised the community for their tireless efforts.
“Following recent community consultation and feedback from staff, HNELHD and NSWHP will implement regional pathology services that include: both Moree and Narrabri Hospitals operating on-site laboratories; pathology staff continuing to work in their local communities, and investment in additional enabling point of care testing that supports contemporary pathology practice with faster urgent testing capabilities,” information distributed by the NSW government read.
“The NSW government is committed to providing better health outcomes for regional communities and ensuring equitable care,” Mr Park said.
“Regional and rural health is a priority to me as Minister and I would like to assure the community that they will continue to receive high-quality pathology services and thank them for contributing to this process.
“I would like to thank the local Member Roy Butler MP for his advocacy on this important issue and look forward to working with him as consultation continues. Roy has been instrumental in ensuring local pathology services are safe and fit for purpose.
“I am concerned by misinformation that has been shared throughout this consultation process. I won’t tolerate people using falsehoods to undermine confidence in our local health services. The community deserves better and this announcement could not be clearer that this is a positive transition.”
Mr Butler acknowledged the pivotal role of the minister and his team in achieving this outcome.
“From the time I first contacted Ryan, he and his team have been available to discuss this matter,” he said.
“The community experienced significant anxiety and distress around their pathology services as misinformation allowed negative rumours to fester. Ryan and I are disappointed that the community was subjected to unnecessary distress.
“I want to thank the community for the way so many people logically stated their concerns verbally, or in writing. I’m pleased specific concerns the community raised are being considered including needing fresh frozen plasma for transfusions, urgent testing and treatment, managing snakebites, and assessing abdominal pain with lipase tests and liver function tests.
“Your views helped inform the positive outcome we have today.”
NSW Health Pathology chief executive Vanessa Janissen said the communities of Narrabri and Moree, as well as local clinicians, will continue to be consulted to determine the best way forward for the delivery of local pathology services.
“Moving forward, we will continue to keep staff, other healthcare providers, and community leaders informed throughout this process,” she said.
“NSW Health Pathology’s integrated statewide clinical network means we are uniquely positioned to ensure regional and rural communities have access to safe, reliable pathology services, while broadening access to highly specialised tests, such as anatomical pathology and genomics, provided at our larger referral laboratories.
“NSW Health Pathology operates the largest point of care testing network in Australia, providing urgent onsite testing at the clinicians fingertips and helping to ensure the right test, at the right time for every patient regardless of where they live.”
Hunter New England Local Health District acting chief executive, Susan Heyman, said transitioning to NSW Health Pathology allows the hospital to benefit from the statewide network of services and technologies, including point of care testing, enhancing the capacity to deliver high-quality and sustainable care to the people of Moree and Narrabri.
“We along with NSW Health Pathology will continue to ensure these communities have equal access to quality care and timely pathology services,” she said.
Securing pathology services a community victory: Mayor
Narrabri Shire Council welcomed the announcement from the NSW Health Minister regarding pathology services at Narrabri Hospital.
Council released a statement after the announcement, saying following intense pressure from the community, Health Minister Ryan Park had announced that on-site laboratories will operate at both Moree and Narrabri hospitals.
Narrabri Shire mayor Darrell Tiemens has said all credit must go to community leaders.
“I want to thank the entire community for their tireless efforts on this front, and I want to make special mention to Sarah Gleeson, Dr Gottke, Liz Murphy, Russell Stewart, Patricia Hadley, Dr Rohana, and Ian Schweitzer,” said Cr Tiemens.
“The community-led petition has collected over 6100 signatures, over 500 people attended a recent community meeting, and hundreds of emails have been sent alongside countless phone calls.
“The community have risen to this challenge with dogged determination and spirit. It has been their unified front that has driven this good news. Additionally, I want to thank local member Roy Butler for his concerted efforts.”
Despite the announcement to maintain pathology services, Cr Tiemens continues to call for an independent inquiry into Hunter New England Health and the restoration of complete clinical services at Wee Waa and Boggabri Hospitals.
“Hunter New England Health’s lack of transparency and communication has caused significant unrest and angst amongst the communities, but it has also cost Hunter New England Health,” said Cr Tiemens.
“They now have to rebuild the trust of the community, and I look forward to their response to conducting an independent inquiry.”
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