WE are not even on the horizon! That is the comment of Manning Hospital Medical Staff Council chair, Dr Murray Hyde Page on the state of play in the hospital's fight to try to pry money from the NSW government to address its infrastructure crisis.
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Dr Hyde Page yesterday exposed the reality of what Manning Hospital had in its arsenal to fight for funds from NSW government coffers and rejected the claim of member for Myall Lakes, Stephen Bromhead that "Manning Base Hospital is included in the priority list for hospital developments in regional NSW."
"When you look at the capital works program, we are not even there, we are not even on the horizon," Dr Hyde Page said.
The document that brings the funding issue into focus is the NSW State Health Plan Towards 2021. Released by the NSW Ministry for Health in June 2014 it is the State government's stated objectives for "designing and building future-focused infrastructure".
It states "the forward program includes commencement of planning for capital works at Dubbo, Sutherland, St George, Bankstown, Campbelltown, Blacktown, Westmead, Wagga Wagga, Goulburn, Gosford, Wyong, Hornsby, and Lismore Base Hospitals."
"Where is our hospital?" asks Dr Hyde Page.
Dr Hyde Page said Manning Hospital should be on the "commencement of planning for capital works" because the Hunter New England Health 'Manning Rural Referral Hospital Master Development Plan' prepared by Suters Architects is only a concept plan.
"The Medical Staff Council was instrumental in developing the Clinical Services Plan (CSP) and we certainly had the co-operation of Hunter New England Health as they sent their best people it was really good," Dr Hyde Page said.
"Once the CSP had been done, it was obvious the next step was to do redevelopment planning, and this is where I will give credit to the last general manager, Tricia Bulic. She approached the architects who had done the Mater Hospital in Newcastle, Suters - and this is the critical point - they did a concept plan. Now that's all that's been done.
"Now when he (Mr Bromhead) says the planning has been done, no, it has not been done. I checked this with Jim Wills (manager of clinical services and director of the emergency department at Manning Hospital) only a week ago because I knew this was critical to what everyone was going to talk about in the lead-up to the election.
"A concept plan means that there is a nice shiny brochure and that's all. Everything is rubbery.
"Now Mr Bromhead was very enthusiastic to get the funding going and he almost promised that in the last budget that the money would be forthcoming, and then he came back and said there was money to be shared between hospitals.
"We are over halfway through the financial year and nothing has been done. Now I would have thought that money would have been crucial to turning a concept plan into a real plan. A concept plan is a nothing.
"We want the money to turn the concept plan into a plan that will get us money. Where is the money? If he is fair dinkum he would have got that money by now in this financial year to turn what is a glossy brochure into a proper plan."
