Another rural-based hospital appears to be having the same concerns as Bowral Hospital, and the Southern Highlands community, about the SWSLHN understanding and recognizing the unique issues faced by a rural District hospital and their community's health needs.
The following article is from the Blue Mountains Gazette and reflects a much more responsive Division of General Practice than the Southern Highlands Division of General Practice under the control of its CEO. At least the Katoomba and Blue Mountains Division used their AMA representative to introduce a forum for their Division's GPs to hear what each of the 2011 election contenders had to say about their health policies. Secondly, they were in a position to advise the candidates what they, the GPs,considered to be the election issues for health.
In the Southern Highlands there has only been stony silence and, as seen in the previous post, absolute refusal on the part of the Division to comment about Medicare Locals and the SWSLHN, generally. As far as Socrates is aware there has been no meeting attended by the general practitioners of the Southern Highlands at which they could be informed of the planned marriage of their Division with that of the Macarthur area. Certainly, the only announced meeting to which the CEO agreed to attend was with a handful of the local psychologists in private practice - and that was done only as a favour to his neighbour!
The Southern Highland News has been scoured for any sort of story or letter relating to the SWS Local Hospital Network (SWSLHN), or the marriage proposed to the Macarthur Division of General Practice for the Medicare Local. Contrast that with the transparency of the Bankstown and the Blue Mountains Divisions of General Practice who have held community and GP membership forums throughout the past eight months to the present time.
Even the Macarthur Division's website has been devoid of the information which could be of interest to its members. It might be deduced from this veil of secrecy that all business associated with their proposed bid for the Medicare Local has been secret Board business at which the interests and contributions of others (including their members) is considered to be without value.
From Socrates own perspective, the proposed union between the Southern Highlands Division and the Macarthur Division of General Practice is doomed to fail. Why is this so, you may ask! Well looking at the two personalities involved, one can't help but note that both are in the business of building empires. Both have notable expansionist aims and both are actively seeking to access the available funding from Canberra to achieve their ambitions.
One only has to look at the website for the Macarthur Division of General Practice to recognise that this so-called not-for-profit organisation designed to support and meet the needs of general practitioners is really a substantial corporation. Look through the list of staffing and their titles at the Division and you will see how corporatist it has become!
On the other hand, our local Division has less such positions but the CEO still runs the business of the Southern Highlands Division of General Practice as if it is his own corporation. The Board, in the meantime, is a tokenistic group who acquiesce to every suggestion made by their CEO. Perhaps the Southern Highlands Division should seriously consider its relationship and true status in the planned nuptials with the Macarthur Division. There will be only one winner to emerge from the marriage - and there won't be much connubial bliss in it for the Southern Highlands Division of General Practice!
Socrates suggests that, before the Marriage Celebrant joins the two in this marriage of inconvenience, and asks if anyone is aware why the two should not be joined in marriage, there is a resounding shout of "yes" from the local the communities of the Southern Highlands and the Macarthur area. Let us join together to put a stop to this obscenity.
"Katoomba out in cold on hospital board: specialist"
BY SHANE DESIATNIK
Blue Mountains Gazette
23 Mar, 2011 09:55 AM "Australian Medical Association (AMA) Blue Mountains district representative Dr John England has raised questions over the makeup of the Nepean/Blue Mountains Local Hospital Network board (LHN) established in January, claiming it is virtually a Nepean Hospital establishment.
"Dr England, a Katoomba Hospital-based specialist with decades of experience, made the comment to the Gazette after attending a closed meet the candidates session in Katoomba on March 16 hosted by the AMA.
“The consensus at the meeting was that we don’t know anyone [on the Nepean/Blue Mountains LHN board] except Dr James Bramley, who is based at Nepean Hospital but does relief and occasional weekend work at Katoomba Hospital,” Dr England said.
“Nobody really represents Blue Mountains hospitals [on the board] — that is the truth. “You know the saying, the big dog eats all the food.
“We hope that in the future there will be actually people who work full-time at Katoomba Hospital appointed to the board.
“Certainly the make-up of the LHN board and the topic of transport and access to hospital services in the region were the issues mostly talked about at the meeting.”
“But what I really think is needed is that doctors appointed to Nepean Hospital should have to work at least one day per fortnight at Katoomba Hospital as part of their contracts.”
NSW AMA president Dr Andrew Steiner said last Wednesday’s candidate’s forum was the first of its kind held by the AMA in the Blue Mountains prior to a state election.
"I’m impressed by the attendance by local doctors and Blue Mountains GP Network members,” Dr Steiner said.
“The AMA has a 10-point priority plan for the election but the three main components are the need to address access block in major teaching hospitals, create enough positions for interns and doctors in training and involve clinicians in decision-making.”
