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Labor moves to hospital mergers by stealth

Danny OBrien fears hospital mergers may proceed covertly despite Labor's assurances. He's concerned about budget cuts, new bureaucracies, and whether local hospitals will maintain necessary resources and control.

By news@gippsland - 9th August 2024 - Back to News

The Nationals Member for Gippsland South, Danny O'Brien is concerned hospital mergers will now occur by stealth and cuts may still occur at local hospitals, despite Labor government rhetoric. Mr O'Brien said there was significant concern in the community over recent months at both proposed hospital budget cuts, which would have had significant impacts on hospital services, as well as the merger plan.

Community concern grew over proposed hospital budget cuts and merger plans. Following a strong campaign by The Nationals, Labor has backed away from merging hospitals into mega regional services

Hospital merger concerns

Mr O'Brien said, "After a sustained campaign, including from The Nationals across Victoria, the Labor government has buckled and backed away from its immediate plans to forcibly merge our hospitals into mega regional services. However, the introduction of a Gippsland 'Local Health Service Network' shows that mergers are not off the table - it just seems Labor wants to put them off until after the next election."

"One wonders how this new level of bureaucracy, in addition to yet another new government agency 'Hospitals Victoria', will reduce administration and back-office costs. I remain very concerned at the government's budget cuts to hospitals even if there is new funding apparently delivered - we are yet to see the details of this, including how it will be allocated locally," he said.

Local hospital concerns

Mr O'Brien added, "Our hospitals are already under significant pressure and the cuts proposed by Labor were not simply seeking efficiencies but the result of 10 years of financial mismanagement by the Labor government. Labor can't manage money and the $188 billion debt we're heading towards is impacting services, including health, right across the state."

"I will reserve judgement on this government proposal because it looks simply like a political fix, putting off mergers for now but initiating a creeping process to take away local control of our health services. We need to ensure our local hospitals remain local and have the resources they need because patient care across Gippsland is critical," he said.

Pictures from Green Left website.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com