MEMBER for Myall Lakes Stephen Bromhead this week said he could "see no reason why public patients should be required to attend a hospital in Newcastle" when the Mayo Private Hospital Cardiac Catheter Laboratory is in Taree.
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Mr Bromhead's decision to go public with his support for a public-private partnership agreement with Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD) and Mayo Private Hospital comes in the wake of controversial comments by cardiologist Dr Sesh Narasimhan in the Manning River Times.
Dr Narasimhan last week described cardiac care in the Manning Valley "as second-class citizen treatment" and branded as "bullshit" the HNELHD statement that "the majority of Manning patients receive transfer and timely care within the agreed 48-hour timeframe".
Mr Bromhead officially opened the Mayo Private Hospital Cardiac Catheter Laboratory last year and said he supported public-private partnership agreements.
"I support public patients attending private facilities in order to access facilities and services that are not available in the local hospital," Mr Bromhead said.
"I see no reason why public patients should be required to attend a hospital in Newcastle when the cardiac catheter laboratory is available in Taree and there are none in Port Macquarie."
Mr Bromhead said he had spoken with "Hunter New England Health and to the minister for health about this matter and I am sure that through negotiation between the Mayo Hospital and Hunter New England Health a positive outcome will be reached."
He added that the "cardiac catheter laboratory is in its trial period which ends on May 28. The hospital only recently applied for its Interventionist Procedure Licence and have just opened its intensive care unit which is a necessary step to run the cardiac catheter laboratory."
