General News
8 July, 2024
Regional centres worse off says MP
Member for Lowan Emma Kealy said an amalgamation of health services "won't work", with rural and regional centres worse off.
"There's a lack of understanding of it costing more to deliver services in rural and remote areas," she said.
"It's not about making sure people have got access to good quality health care close to home.
"I really fear for what the future is with this push to keep on centralising our health services because it's going to really harm rural communities and make it harder to have people stay and live for longer in their communities but also really hard to attract families to an area where there's very limited health service."
She said the Grampians Health merger had taken income and opportunities away from smaller communities and caused a "disconnect" between employees in rural centres and managers in Ballarat.
"They know what the good ideas are, and how they can run better and deliver better health services," Ms Kealy told ABC Radio.
"But because their managers are 300 kilometres away, they simply can't deliver it, and it's having a devastating impact on the culture and the positivity of staff who work really hard."