Thursday, 23 May 2024
Subjects: MLHD draft Health Services Plan for Cootamundra Hospital; ‘WOW’ Day, Volunteer of the Year Awards.
E&OE…
Dave Eisenhauer: Good morning to you.
Steph Cooke: Good morning, Dave. It's good to be with you again on this chilly morning.
Dave Eisenhauer: What was it this morning? It was minus three to minus four in some places, and then down in the south with Gundagai it just edged minus one this morning. So yeah, the bin lids are a little bit frozen in the mornings as the truck goes around. It's that time of the year.
Steph Cooke: Absolutely, but the days are lovely, nice and fine. I think we could probably do with a little bit more rain across the region, but we won’t complain too much.
I'm actually down in your part of the world tomorrow; I'm visiting some of those softwood plantations, the timber mills, just to get back in touch with those organisations and people that went through the Black Summer bushfires, and just to have some conversations about what that recovery is looking like at the present. We know that it takes years and years to recover after those types of events, so I will be seeing where all of that is up to.
Dave Eisenhauer: Well, you've got perfect weather for it, Steph. It'll be a nice tour around the region. It’s a very busy time of year actually before the winter months kick in. We've got a lot of the trash rows being burnt, forestry doing a lot of ground maintenance and getting things ready for the planting season. I know we have burning happening up around the Blowering Dam foreshores and places like that.
It's like we say with so many of our organisations – winter or summer – our emergency services like the RFS, it may be wintertime, but there's so many activities happening. Things slow down a little bit, but not too much do they?
Steph Cooke: No, you're quite right about that and you've just reminded me that in the last couple of days I've actually been getting notifications through the ‘Hazards Near Me’ app about those burning operations that are happening down there around Blowering Dam. Our RFS brigades across the region continue to work all year round of course, but these cooler months are a critical time for them to be able to get some of that preventative work done ahead of the next fire season.
So we wish them all the very best as they continue with that work. As you say, they're volunteers. They're doing everything they can to protect our lives and our livelihoods and indeed our environment, which is just amazing down in that part of the world.
Dave Eisenhauer: A beautiful part of the world, Steph. And now we look forward to that visit. You've timed it beautifully for a Friday to travel through.
But Steph, today let's have a look around. We've got a few things to chat about today including just recently, you've had a meeting to discuss the impacts that the proposed changes outlined in the Murrumbidgee Local Health District's draft Health Services Plan will have on the Cootamundra Hospital. This was just in the recent last few days?
Steph Cooke: Yes, it's very worrying times for the community of Cootamundra and indeed the smaller villages that feed into the centre of Cootamundra and the hospital there.
The Murrumbidgee Local Health District has released its draft Health Services Plan for the future of the Cootamundra Hospital. Most people would know that the current Cootamundra Hospital – not the first one obviously, that one is a heritage building that's been repurposed and now houses a youth centre which is a wonderful facility – but the current hospital is also approaching the end of its serviceable life and as a result, the Murrumbidgee Local Health District has an obligation to start to look at what the current and future needs of the community will be, to inform the government about future capital investments.
So this draft services plan – and I know to a lot of people it feels like it's more bureaucratic processes and lingo – but this is actually a really, really critical document. If we don't get this right, then any future planning that's done around the Cootamundra Health Service will fall back onto this document and will have very significant implications.
So yesterday, noting the number of concerns that we have with the draft plan itself, I felt it was important to bring some stakeholders together, doctors, nurses, midwives, the pharmacists in town, the pathologists, some new mums and members of the community.
Our primary concern was about the future of maternity services at the hospital, the ability to deliver babies locally and for mums to be able to stay in their community and close to home to have their newborns, and also the future of the operating theatre itself was raised, so we had some visiting surgeons there.
It was a great meeting and it was an opportunity for me to hear directly from the community about what the impact will be. If I can describe it as a pebble being thrown into a pond; that pebble might represent the actual maternity services or the theatre provision itself, but the ripple effect into all of those other areas that I've just mentioned, whether it's pathology or pharmacy or dentistry, all of those things will be drastically impacted if these two main services are cut.
So it was a great robust meeting, and they left me with no uncertainty, no doubt that this is a service that needs to continue into the future, and we need to fight for it. We're going to need to fight hard to retain those services.
Dave Eisenhauer: Looking at the draft, those services are not included?
Steph Cooke: The mention of them in the draft plan itself is around this idea that they are unlikely to be viable into the future. That's the language that they're using and what we are really calling on now is for the Health Minister and indeed MLHD to rule out any cuts or downgrading of services at the hospital.
It doesn't just include these couple that we're talking about now. We're also talking about the pathology services that are there, that all-important laboratory work that a lot of the time on a lot of occasions is done in real time when they have people come through the door with particular symptoms. There's a lab there that can run tests to see early on what is happening to that patient and provide vital information for what their immediate and future care looks like.
So this is a community that is very concerned and I will continue to make sure that we not only provide good information back to the health district on their draft service plan, but that I continue to press up on the New South Wales Government to make sure that we do not see a cut to these services in the future.
Dave Eisenhauer: I know we went through these debates and issues with the new hospital in Tumut, I'm sure they all do, but Cootamundra services quite a large area; they're quite a large regional and farming community with a lot of outlying towns that require those services and not have to travel those distances to the major centres, such as to Wagga or wherever it might be across to Canberra. Some things obviously you've got to travel for sometimes, but for the basic services that we've become used to in hospital, Steph.
Steph Cooke: Absolutely Dave, and one of the things that was raised over and over again yesterday was the fact that people, particularly at the moment with cost of living pressures, are struggling to afford to be able to travel for all manner of reasons, and healthcare being one of them.
We need to make sure that it is affordable and that, wherever possible, people are able to receive that care close to home, which means they don't have to travel at all or they're only travelling just up the road or up the street or into town to have important medical procedures undertaken. That, in and of itself, is a significant problem.
We also know that in small regional areas there is no public transport, there's none.
Dave Eisenhauer: That's true.
Steph Cooke: You're relying on community transport, again, run by volunteers and this is just an unacceptable situation.
But even further to that, we had Dr. Joe McGirr, the Member for Wagga, present yesterday as part of this stakeholder meeting and I am so deeply grateful for his support and for him coming along. Regional healthcare is something that he is well across and it's just so important for him to hear directly from our people. And we know the pressures are already there on the Wagga Wagga Base Hospital – he has spoken about that on numerous occasions and he did so again yesterday.
So there is now an opportunity for us to actually strengthen health services in Cootamundra, not to see them downgraded or cut. Let's strengthen what we already have. We have a great base there of clinicians that were around the table yesterday and any cuts will impact professional development in their space. It makes it very hard to attract and retain certain health professionals, particularly if they really want to specialise in areas or they need that all-important experience on the ground. It will impact all of that.
It will also impact, of course, with respect to maternity, not just the birthing itself, but the care that a mother receives pre- and post- the delivery of that baby. We heard yesterday from a young mum, Paige; she's got a little 3-year-old, she's got another one on the way in November. She wants to be able to have her baby at Cootamundra so that it's not disruptive on her family, on her husband and her little one.
It's completely understandable that people are concerned about this and we need to continue to make sure that our voice is heard and that Murrumbidgee Local Health District really gets the message that it's not just about the cutting of those particular services. It has this massive flow-on effect, and that will resonate right through the health community and right through the community itself.
Dave Eisenhauer: And of course, you mentioned Dr. Joe McGirr, who is chair of the Committee on Remote and Rural and Regional Health, if I'm correct, and of course he's got that really interesting insight into seeing other health districts as well on behalf of the State Government.
Steph Cooke: Absolutely. He does chair that committee that came out of what the Minister describes as that groundbreaking inquiry, which Minister Park then in opposition had a huge hand in setting up; we know that he followed it closely. Dr. McGirr heads up the committee that looks at how the recommendations from that inquiry are being implemented in our communities right across New South Wales.
As I say, I'm extremely grateful to Dr McGirr for showing such an interest in what's happening in Cootamundra, not just in that capacity, but also in relation to the impacts that it has on the Wagga Wagga Base Hospital and his constituents in that community, who are also entitled to timely healthcare. It's important that that system isn't clogged up with people from the smaller communities like the ones I represent, when there may and should be an opportunity to provide those health services at a local level and close to home.
Dave Eisenhauer: It's going to be a very interesting journey Steph, one that we're going to be keeping an eye on, without a doubt, each time we talk. Did the Minister happen to come along and have a listen? Was he able to attend yesterday?
Steph Cooke: Unfortunately despite my invitation, the Minister didn't attend yesterday. But in the aftermath of yesterday's meeting, I’ll be re-extending that invitation to the Minister to come out to Cootamundra, and talk to the clinicians that I spoke to yesterday. They would be more than happy to welcome him and welcome the opportunity to talk about what they currently do, what they see as the challenges that we're facing at the moment, and where they see opportunities for improvement and models of care that will suit our communities, both now and into the future and so, of course, I am re-extending that invitation to the Minister.
I also undertook yesterday that I would write to the Minister regardless, updating him on how that stakeholder meeting went yesterday and also reiterating our concerns and our desire to see him come out and rule out any future cuts to services in Cootamundra.
Dave Eisenhauer: Well we'll certainly be keeping tabs on that with you Steph, on our fortnightly talks.
Let's talk about an important part of our hospitals, part of our healthcare system and that is the volunteer side, Steph Cooke, and not just the healthcare system. We are absolutely blessed in the entire region with so many volunteers in so many different organisations.
Yesterday was Wear Orange Wednesday, recognising the amazing work done by the State Emergency Service, and of course as you were the Minister for Emergency Services for the state and then you've had firsthand experience during those Black Summer fires, you know just how valuable our volunteers really are.
Steph Cooke: Our volunteers do an incredible job, not just in emergency services Dave, but yesterday was the opportunity for us to acknowledge the efforts of the SES by wearing orange. I certainly turned up yesterday looking very bright and was very, very proud to do so.
Dave Eisenhauer: Good.
Steph Cooke: Our SES volunteers do a wonderful job.
Dave Eisenhauer: Don't they?
Steph Cooke: They turn up in those all-important moments when there is an emergency on.
It's not just about floods and flood rescues for the SES, even though they are the lead combat agency in that space. Many of our units are also first responders when it comes to road crash rescue, when it comes to land searches. They are involved in all manner of operations across the state and WOW Day is an opportunity to acknowledge their efforts.
And of course, we are celebrating National Volunteer Week and that's an opportunity for us to recognise volunteers not just in the emergency services space, but indeed in all of our community organisations right across the state.
Dave Eisenhauer: And we have some wonderful volunteers and you and I both have that first-hand experience with that side of things when we have the fires through the region, like so many people have, and we look at those volunteers that lined up there that weren't necessarily part of any organisation, Steph. At that time they were involved in packing those food hampers and going and visiting people that had been affected, had their houses destroyed and all sorts of things. There's builders out of the blue that turned up and became volunteers in that time and they've continued that role. They've joined up with local groups, whatever it might be. Gee, we've got some volunteers now. If you look at all the different electorates around the state, wow, there's just thousands of them.
Steph Cooke: Oh, absolutely. And just listening to you recall some of that volunteering work that occurred, especially during that Dunns Road fire, it sends chills down my spine, Dave. It was absolutely amazing the way people responded. Just people from all walks of life putting up their hand under the principle of ‘see a need, fill a need’ and it really brings out the best, in our communities as a result.
I think it's probably an important time to mention that the Volunteer of the Year Award nominations are currently open. They don't close until the 14th of June so there's a little bit of time for people in our communities to think about a volunteer that they believe should be recognised and nominate them for an award.
So there's a website: volunteering.com.au, and people can jump on there and nominate someone. And there's always my office if people are seeking some more information or want to know how to go about it.
Dave Eisenhauer: And people that are looking to be volunteers pop in, for example, at our local State Emergency Service and say g’day on their training nights, the RFS, Riding for the Disabled, we could spend the next half hour listing these volunteer organisations that are such a huge part of making the clocks tick in our regional community, Steph.
Steph Cooke: Absolutely. I've got my website under redevelopment at the moment and there will be, on the new website, a whole section dedicated to our organisations that have volunteers.
Whether it's Scouts or Guides or as you mentioned, Riding for the Disabled, Meals on Wheels, there's an opportunity there for local organisations if they would like, to have their website or their details listed on my website so that people can come to one spot, and see all of the different volunteer organisations that are based in our communities.
If you’re interested please reach out to my office and we will make sure, going forward, that you are listed on our website, so that we can continue to share the message that there are many organisations looking for new volunteers.
Dave Eisenhauer: Thank you very much for joining us for chat, as you do on a Thursday on a hugely busy time, and all the best of your visit tomorrow, Steph. You'll have to pop in and say good day when you're traveling through.
Steph Cooke: I will, indeed. Thanks so much for the chat, Dave, and we'll catch up soon.
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