PETITION DEBATE HIGHTLIGHTS DISPARITIES BETWEEN HEALTH DEPARTMENT ADVICE AND REALITY

Friday, 6 June 2025

A petition debate brought on by Member for Cootamundra, Steph Cooke has raised credible concerns about the NSW Government’s over reliance on department advice, and lacking consultation with frontline staff in regional and rural healthcare settings.

The Protect Regional and Rural Health Service in NSW petition was presented by Ms Cooke in the NSW legislative assembly on Thursday afternoon and was debated by eight other members of the NSW Parliament, including Health and Regional Health Minister Ryan Park, Shadow Minister for Regional Health Gurmesh Singh, and Member for Wagga Wagga Dr Joe McGirr, who chaired the NSW Select Committee on Remote, Rural, and Regional Health.

“For the past twelve months, the people of Cootamundra and its surrounding villages have been through Hell,” Ms Cooke said, in opening the debate.

“First, the uncertainty over maternity and theatre services at their beloved hospital, and then in November 2024, the proposal by NSW Health Pathology to permanently close our fully staffed pathology laboratory.”

Recently, a spokesperson for the Murrumbidgee Local Health District confirmed that the maternity ward would remain open, and on May 8 of this year, Minister Park announced that the NSW Health Pathology laboratory will remain at the Cootamundra Health Service.

This followed a 6-month long campaign spearheaded by Ms Cooke, with overwhelming support of the Health Services Union and residents across the electorate of Cootamundra.

“It takes strength to override departmental advice. It takes leadership to admit when a decision doesn’t stack up and to change course,” Ms Cooke said.

“Minister [Park], thank you for listening to the people of Cootamundra and to your frontline staff. We are truly grateful.”

In his response, Minister Park admitted that the advice he received from government departments regarding services at the Cootamundra Hospital was incompatible with that of frontline health staff and rural patients.

“I remain concerned that the picture that I was getting from her [Ms Cooke] and on the ground was not the same picture as I was getting through the advice,” Mr Park said.

“In this place [parliament] sometimes, you can get very easily lost into briefing notes and cabinet submissions and policy documents and a whole lot of things, but I think you need to take the opportunity wherever you can to engage directly, as closely as you can, with what’s happening on the ground.”

Disparities between government department advice and the realities faced by regional and rural based patients and healthcare workers was repeatedly highlighted throughout the petition debate.

Dr McGirr, who spoke in support of the petition, described a meeting he was invited to attend regarding the situation at the Cootamundra Health Service.

“She [Ms Cooke] had collected together a group of health professionals and local community leaders because of the proposed changes that hadn’t been flagged sufficiently with the community,” Dr McGirr said.

“It begged the question at the time, of what level of community consultation had been taken out by the health service up to that point, and why had they essentially gone around the local member and leaders in the community in that way.”

“Community involvement shouldn’t be an after thought when it comes to planning and delivery of care, it should in fact be a priority.”

Member for Bathurst, Paul Toole described the situation in Cootamundra as an example of “health bureaucrats using misleading information”, and “putting dollars ahead of the lives in regional communities”.

“Don’t let the boffins continue to pull the wool over your eyes,” Mr Toole said.

“Because in many cases you are being briefed and informed on information that in a lot of situations, is not correct and is not the views of the patients, the staff and the communities that are being impacted."

Member for Northern Tablelands, Brendan Moylan, also spoke to the valuable insight that constituents can offer the members of parliament when important decisions are being made. 

“What we are looking at here was a situation where the departmental advice that was given from the health district up the chain which eventually landed with the minister was incorrect,” Mr Moylan said.

“It’s our local communities that have the best insight and I genuinely believe it’s our local communities who can make our lives and our jobs as regional members easier by telling us what’s going on.”

You can watch the full debate by heading to the NSW Legislative Assembly Facebook page or via the link: https://www.facebook.com/NSWAssembly/videos/1056378303093204/