GIPPSLAND Southern Health Service, which operates the Leongatha and Korumburra hospitals, is getting out on the front foot next Thursday, June 20, ahead of likely sweeping changes for country hospitals across Victoria, by calling an open access board meeting at the Korumburra Italian Social Club.
The meeting, open to all comers, starts at 5pm.
However, when the topic of conversation turns to what the community would like to see from their local hospital in the future, it will be just as much in the context of what’s happening across Gippsland, as the proximity of Leongatha or Wonthaggi for that matter.
One of the 11 hospitals set to be compelled into a “closer strategic partnership”, if not management “consolidation”, with the other 10 hospitals in the region is the Bairnsdale Regional Health Service which operates the Bairnsdale hospital.
The local MP for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, has already sounded the alarm there.
“The Minister has already undertaken this process in the western districts of Victoria where a number of health services have been merged under the ‘Grampians Health’ banner, run out of Ballarat – and that hasn’t gone well for the smaller communities,” Tim Bull MP said recently.
“I am aware there has already been discussions with representatives of Bairnsdale, Orbost and Omeo hospitals, and it is of great concern to me this is going to be implemented with little wider community knowledge or feedback.”
“Community feedback” is what next Thursday’s meeting is all about.
Gippsland Southern Health Service CEO Louise Sparkes is convinced that change is coming, acknowledging that there has been nothing new in the management of hospitals in the past 25 years, against a backdrop of constant change for the health sector, and more recently, significant financial pressures for the State Government.
“There will still be hospitals at Foster, Leongatha and Korumburra. The government has assured us that there will be no site closures,” Ms Sparkes said.
“They are looking at local area networks like they have in NSW and Queensland and Gippsland being in one network, whether that’s strategic partnerships or a consolidation of management with one board and one CEO but with local advisory committees.
“It would mean greater levels of cooperation, less competition for staff and resources, reduced back-office costs, the opportunity to share staff, and better outcomes.
“The criticism is that there hasn’t been enough consultation and that’s what this is about, we’re keen to hear what we should be advocating for when these new arrangements are put in place.”
As well as talking about regional management and cooperation, there will also be the opportunity for the board and management of Gippsland Southern Health Service to talk about the services it provides now and what’s planned for the future.
But there might have to be some acceptance of the realities of the cost of health care.
For example, due to a change at the Leongatha emergency department, where the hospital now supplies its own doctors as required, it’s a no fee service, whereas Korumburra’s ED, which is supported by local doctors, remains a fee-paying service.
There’s also the issue of the low demand for such a service at Korumburra.
So, would it be more likely that regional management might more readily make unpopular but necessary changes at local hospitals? Would service levels be impacted as a result?
Concerned about how the changes might affect smaller hospitals in East Gippsland, but the same might be said for the likes of Foster and Korumburra, Tim Bull MP has called for the release of the government’s report into the organisation of Victoria’s 76 health services.
Mr Bull said he was concerned if we lost our local hospital CEOs and boards that represent their communities, we would lose local input into the health services.
“What they have set up on the other side of the state is local advisory boards, but they have no teeth and can only give advice that is easily dismissed,” he said.
“Reports indicate that specialist visits have, in many cases, been centralised to Ballarat at the expense of hospitals like Edenhope and Horsham. Other hospital services have been centralised with loss of local jobs and staff morale has plummeted,” he claimed.
Not a good sign, says Mr Bull
Mr Bull has further noted that Northern Grampians Shire Council had weighed into the debate moving a vote of no confidence in Grampians Health in August last year after amalgamations of local hospital boards failed to deliver promised improvements at Stawell Regional Health.
"The availability of affordable and readily accessible quality healthcare services is a matter of key importance to our residents, and we need to make it clear that the current level of service provided by Grampians Health is not hitting the mark. We don’t want our healthcare shipped out down the highway, we want the services plan that was promised, and we won’t accept less than that as a benchmark. Our residents deserve a functional quality local healthcare service,” said the mover of the motion Cr Kevin Erwin.
“We were told that the amalgamation into Grampians Health would lead to an improved and more efficient health service, however our experience thus far is a haphazard arrangement of visiting locum doctors who never have the opportunity to get to know their patients, which consequently is threatening the quality and consistency of health care provided to hundreds of our residents," he said.
The trick will be ensuring the same thing doesn't happen here without direct input into the management of our hospitals and health services.
So, if you want to hear first-hand what is happening, connect and engage with the Board and Executive team head come along to the Korumburra Italian Social Club at 5pm this Thursday, June 20.
It is expected that a similar meeting will be provided at Leongatha soon.
To register email rebecca.shaw@gshs.com.au
Click here for further details.
