Footing the bill for new specialist positions at Manning Hospital is not the problem when trying to fill health service gaps, according to Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD) chief executive officer, Michael DiRienzo.

“It’s not that the hospital or the district can’t afford to employ these people. This has nothing to do with funding or affordability. We just can’t get them,” Mr DiRienzo said.

Mr DiRienzo is speaking to the issue and challenges of specialist staff recruitment for Manning Hospital.

He is determined to challenge the “myth out there” that HNELHD “doesn’t want to allocate its budget to specialist positions.” He reveals that “positions like ear, nose and throat (ENT) and a few others are sitting there … the budget is there for them, our challenge is getting them.”

Recently Member for Myall Lakes Stephen Bromhead stated that “since elected to government I have overseen a 25 per cent increase in recurrent funding to Manning Hospital and over 30 new staff have joined the hospital team. This year we have made new medical appointments including two intensive care specialists, a second oncologist, rehabilitation specialist, psychiatrist and a new director of emergency.”

The statement in the Manning River Times prompted Manning-Great Lakes Community Health Action Group president, Alan Tickle to query Mr Bromhead’s involvement in securing staff for Manning Hospital.

“My inquiries on the recruitment process of senior medical officers at Manning Hospital revealed that it is purely run at an organisational level without any influences from external factors. These are the principles of recruiting to a public health system,” Mr Tickle said.

In response to questions to HNELHD about “who is responsible for reviewing and endorsing medical staffing enhancements and key appointments to Manning Hospital”, a spokesperson advised the district’s “additional staffing needs are identified by the local hospital management team, and are approved and funded by the chief executive as part of the annual budget process.”

“The annual budget for Manning Hospital is determined by the executive team and endorsed by the board. Allocations are based on a review of activity and demand for services. Increases to the funding are made in response to higher service demand, the need for new or enhanced services, and inflation on salaries and costs.”

The spokesperson also advised the 2018-19 budget for HNELHD is $2.3 billion, an increase of more than $86 million on the 2017-18 annualised budget.

Mr DiRienzo understands the public push for more specialist services, and says the community has a role to play in the recruitment of medical professionals to the area.

“We’ve got to stop saying that this is a really bad place to work. We’ve got to stop saying the place doesn’t have any support, life is too tough, and everything is too hard out here,” Mr DiRienzo said.

“The more you say that, it outweighs the enormous work of the people in your community who are trying to attract professionals to the region, who are saying that the area offers a great lifestyle and it’s a great place to bring up your kids.

“There’s a myth that if (Manning Hospital) is shiny and brand new they’ll come. Remember, something shiny and brand new gets old. The real issue is lifestyle, where they (specialists) want to live, education for their kids and work for their spouse, who may also be a specialist or in another profession.”

Mr DiRienzo says one of “the best things we could do” to attract medical professionals to the region is to “talk about the positive stuff that happens.”

He says the district is also working to “strengthen the supervision” of junior doctors so that they “want to come back”.

“When our juniors come (to Manning Hospital) they actually go back and say, ‘I really enjoyed working in Taree, it’s really good, there’s plenty of variety’. They want variety, and this place gives them variety because if they go to work in a big tertiary centre they only see a little bit.”

Mr DiRienzo says “my job is to make sure that this place gets adequate funding each year, and the recurrent funding goes up, year upon year for this place … and we keep doing our best to continue to develop those services that we know the community needs.”

“They’re the things that I think it is my job to do, and I let government, local members and the politics decide what they want to invest in terms of major capital infrastructure.”

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