Greens visit highlights Clarence health issues
By Tim Howard
It will take more than a $263.5 million Grafton Base Hospital expansion to fix the broken health system in the Clarence Valley says NSW Greens Upper House MP Dr Amanda Cohn.
Dr Cohn was in Grafton last Monday and Tuesday campaigning with Greens Lower House candidate Dr Greg Clancy.
On Monday Dr Cohn met with members of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association and the Grafton Based Hospital Committee to talk about health issues facing the region.
Dr Cohn agreed the government had clearly never intended to begin construction of the hospital this term.
But her main concern was a shortage of trained medical staff at both the Clarence Valley hospitals, which has led to the Clarence hospitals being unable to fulfil obligations to patients.
“The reliance on agency staff at GBH and Maclean is something that worries local nursing staff,” Dr Cohn said.
She was also concerned the GP shortage in the region was placing increase strain on the hospitals’ emergency departments.
“The committee members, (Roy Bell, Des Harvey and Phil Belletty) told me there is a six-week wait to see your GP,” Dr Cohn said.
“And if your not on the books with a doctor, you can’t get in and must go to the hospital to be seen by a doctor.”
She said both issues were something the government could do something about.
“For nurses the public services wages cap is both deterring people from taking up nursing and driving current nurses away,” she said.
“We know this for sure, because in Victoria and Queensland, where nurses pay and conditions has been legislated to improve, these issues are not a problem.”
She said nurses needed a safe nurse-to-patient ratio as well as an annual pay rise above the inflation rate.
Dr Cohn said the Northern Rivers’ proximity to Queensland was exacerbating the problem.
“We know this works because we can see it happening in other state,” she said.
“Nursing are going across the border in droves, because they know a job with better pay and conditions is there for them, sometimes just an hour or two’s drive away.
“I was a GP in Albury, on the Victorian border and we had similar issues when I was practising.”
She said the government also needed to to something to make it more attractive for medical graduates to take up general practice and head to the bush.
“Young doctors just out of medical school are not wanting to become GPs,” she said. “And why would they? Choosing to be a GP instead of going into a specialist field means an instant pay cut.
As the Greens’ health spokesperson Dr Cohn said the government needs to underwrite the pay and conditions gap between a GP and a specialist so a rural GP was earning at a similar rate to a city specialist.
She said Greens health policy would bolster the public community health sector so you can access a GP, allied health professional, dentist or mental health professional through your local public community health centre – for free.
She said the Greens were not happy with proposals to allow other health professionals, such as pharmacists and nurses to take on some of the work of doctors.
“We’ve seen some dangerous situations arise when professionals take on role outside their areas,” she said.
“Pharmacists are trained to see pharmacological solutions to health problems,” she said.
“But a doctor is trained to see a range of treatments or which drugs are just one part.
“Patients deserve to have the full range of treatment options open to them.”
Dr Clancy said it had been a boost to his campaign to have the party’s health spokesperson on the campaign trail.
“She’s almost certain to get in and if we have the balance of power in the Upper House she will be able to put the pressure on the government to improve health in the state,” he said.
