Plan outlines better health deal for rural NSW

Member for Northern Tablelands Richard Torbay has released an updated Health Services Plan for rural NSW to glove into a proposed federal intervention into the public hospital system.
He says the plan would protect country hospitals through block funding or a regional loading to quarantine them from the new model proposed by the Prime Minister for major hospitals.
“Scare campaigns in the metropolitan media about the demise of country hospitals are wrong and have no basis in fact,” he said.
“No government, regardless of its political persuasion, that ever wants to be re-elected would consider such action.
“It’s not on the political radar and never will be.”
The MP said he had updated the Independent Health Services Plan he presented to State Parliament in 2005 calling for the health system to be run by Regional Health Authorities funded by the Commonwealth and States.
The Authorities would take advice from re-established local hospital boards regarding funding and resourcing local health services.
He will distribute the Plan to local councils, community organizations, government departments and agencies for discussion and consideration. Mr Torbay said the plan was comprehensive to deliver a new deal to country communities.
“I have consulted extensively to put together this plan,” he said. “It introduces a concept of rural medicine as a discipline in its own right to deliver services to country people more effectively,” he said. “We should no longer be prepared to accept a lazy, cut down version of the metropolitan model that does not address the needs of our communities.”
“I believe the federal takeover of public hospitals could deliver a better deal for rural communities as long as it is based on local health board decision making and appropriate funding through new Regional Health Authorities that releases more resources for front line services.”

The new plan includes
· Establishing Regional Health Authorities to manage state, federal, local government and private sector health funding.
· Setting up local health boards to report to the Regional Health Authorities on the running of local hospitals.
· Developing new models to integrate services and training for a multi-skilled health workforce specialising in rural medicine. Integrating all existing health services in rural centres.
· Investing $5 billion over ten years to upgrade and replace ageing health infrastructure.
· Supporting clinicians in remote rural practices to relieve unsustainable workloads . Providing increased training opportunities for doctors, nurses and allied health professionals in rural regions. Training more specialists in regional universities to relieve the shortage in rural areas. Creating programs to attract more doctors to rural practice including incentive payments, leave loadings and preferential transfers for years of rural service.
· Linking smaller medical practices and hospitals to larger regional hospitals through fast speed broadband at an estimated cost of $45 million over three years for rural NSW Developing ‘hub and spoke’ models where specialists in larger centres offer outreach services in smaller communities.
· Integrating mental health, aged care, sexual health, drug and alcohol rehabilitation and ancilliary health care services to maximize public transport options (through an injection of $3 million annually) and sharing of facilities and expertise.
· Developing a sustainable public dental health service including training more dentists at regional universities.
· Providing improved post acute hospital health care by improving access to services, better public transport options and affordable accommodation alternatives.
· Developing and integrating more culturally appropriate health services for Aboriginal communities.