The gloves are off over Tweed Hospital funding…..
THE NSW Government has promised $48 million in funding for stages one and two of the $211 million Tweed Hospital redevelopment if re-elected next month.
NSW deputy premier Troy Grant, health minister Jillian Skinner and Tweed MP Geoff Provest made the announcement at Tweed Hospital this morning.
The Tweed Hospital has struggled to cope under the pressure of a growing population and a lack of beds with emergency department attendances up by nearly 10 per cent last year alone.
Plans for a redevelopment of the Tweed Hospital were approved in late 2013, however the Northern Rivers Health Board has made the redevelopment of both the Lismore and Byron Hospitals a priority before works start at Tweed.
Mrs Skinner said despite the issues facing the hospital, Tweed redevelopment remained the third priority in the region.
“This $48 million will redevelop the emergency department, increase the ward space and bed capacity as well as a new carpark,” she said.
NOW
Tweed Daily News:
TWEED MP Geoff Provest is calling for greater Tweed representation on the Northern NSW Local Health District Board, saying this area is losing out to its counterparts in Lismore and Byron when it comes to hospital funding.
Mr
Provest said "questions needed to be asked" over the NNSWLHD's
handling of the Tweed Hospital upgrade, following revelations estimated costs
of Stage One of the works had almost doubled from $48 million to $80m.
NSW
Health Minister Jillian Skinner declined to comment on the blow-out but her
office confirmed estimates for the 2016-2017 Budget would not be increased to
meet the shortfall, despite pleas by the Tweed Medical Staff Council to fully
fund the actual costings…..
TWEED
Hospital surgeons have been backed by the Australian Medical Association as the
doctors brace themselves for the reality of another funding campaign.
Dr
Stephen White said the Tweed Hospital urgently needed a redevelopment because
patients were "pressured" to leave early after procedures for new
admissions, a technique known in the industry as 'hot-bedding'.
"It
wouldn't be unusual to have three people admitted into the same bed, on the
same day, and I think that's extreme," Dr White said.
"People
get told the day after surgery they have to go home and the reality is they
can't."
Dr
White criticised Northern NSW Health District's latest upgrade budgeting
blunder, saying up to 30% of surgeons' work "was not recognised" or
factored into their forward estimates because the patients were Queenslanders…..
Shadow Health Minister and North Coast MP Walt Secord has challenged Tweed MP Geoff Provest to provide a timeline on the Tweed Hospital upgrade from NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner.
Only $48 million is due to be released for stage one of the hospital’s upgrade in the June Budget, even through the figure is understood to be closer to $140m.
Mrs Skinner told ABC Radio on May 10 it was unfortunate the Northern Rivers Local Health District board had underestimated the funds required for stage one of the redevelopment but lessons had been learnt.
Mr Secord said the North Coast needed a statement from Mr Provest or Mrs Skinner “stating they are going to fully fund Tweed Hospital, with dates and deadlines”.
“Too often, the community has been tricked by weasel words from the Liberals and Nationals,” he said.
“We need these dates so we can track the progress and ensure that the upgrade is on track.”
FIRST it was a weasel, now it’s a dim sim: a war of words has erupted between Tweed MP Geoff Provest and Shadow Health Minister Walt Secord over funding for the Tweed Hospital.
Mr Provest today quipped back at Mr Secord, also Labor’s MP for the North Coast, over his call for a definitive timeline on the Tweed Hospital upgrade, saying the request was just part of a dirty “smear campaign”.
Yesterday the shadow health minister said Mr Provest had used “weasel words” in dodging a formal commitment to fund the full cost of the hospital’s redevelopment, following a blow out in costs from $48m to an estimated $140m for Stage One of the project.
But Mr Provest retaliated, accusing Mr Secord of mounting a personal attack against him.
“I think he’s the king of smear,” Mr Provest retorted, referring to Mr Secord.
“He has no idea of what is actually happening at the Tweed Hospital.
“I can’t even remember the last time he visited here. He’s not met with the Tweed doctors and not had any communication with them.
“He went to Beijing and fell over on a dim sim, and now he’s back in parliament at Sydney, and just full of the smear that Labor is renowned for.”
But Mr Secord hit back, saying in fact, during the last parliamentary recess, he had been 1600km west of Shanghai in rural China when he tripped and broke his ankle and fibula.
“I am in a wheelchair, but this will not stop me from ensuring Tweed MP Geoff Provest delivers a full upgrade of Tweed Hospital,” he said
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