Claims that public patients will have to pay for treatment at Bowral and District Hospital have been rebutted.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Member for Wollondilly Jai Rowell addressed Labor and Greens concerns that public patients would have to pay for emergency treatment at the hospital.
“I make it very clear that all public patients, have been, currently are and will always have free public health care in our hospitals. The notion that public patients will pay to go to the emergency department is simply not true,” he said.
Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham spoke at a small community gathering at the hospital on October 24, and said the introduction of a profit motive to any health provider would put pressure on staffing levels and services.
"The key thing about privatisation is the number of staff, because it's the largest cost in any public or private hospital," he said. "The only new example of this type of proposal is the privatisation of Port Macquarie Public Hospital, which was an unmitigated disaster.”
NSW Nurses and Midwives Association general secretary Brett Holmes said the association had concerns no major private hospital operator was prepared to negotiate with them regarding nurse-to-patient ratios or enforceable hours. "As we know private operators have the obligation to provide profit to shareholders. There have been plenty of promises that more jobs will be created, but will our staff be able to deliver the same care?” he asked.
Bowral Hospital was one of five hospitals across the state identified for expressions of interest for a public-private partnership. While the partnership at Bowral Hospital is still on the table, negotiations for the Goulburn Base Hospital proposal fell through.
Member for Goulburn Pru Goward said this was due to a lack of “sufficient interest”. "As long as the public-private partnership could deliver better and more services for Goulburn, it was always worth testing the market to see if the interest was there," she said.
Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham said as far as he was concerned it was a case of “one down, four to go”.
Health Infrastructure will hold a meeting at Bowral Hospital for staff on Wednesday, October 26. The Southern Highland News has secured a briefing with Health Infrastructure. See Friday's edition for further coverage. At the time of print, the HSU protest on Sunday, October 30 was expected to go ahead.
