January 20, 2016
A mix of public and private hospital services are critical for the South Burnett community, says Division 4 Council candidate Terry Fleischfresser.
Mr Fleischfresser, a member of the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Board, also believes a decision on the future of the South Burnett Private Hospital won’t be made until after the March 19 Council election.
A special Council meeting has been called for this Thursday to consider private hospital’s future; southburnett.com.au understands a recommendation is most likely going to be put to this meeting that a business plan be prepared for a day surgery in the building.
The day surgery option is the one most likely to turn a profit, according to sources.
However, Mr Fleischfresser said Council provides many services for residents which are never likely – or unlikely – to break even let alone make a profit, including town halls, swimming pools, saleyards, cemeteries and waste management services.
“These services are expected by ratepayers. The best we can hope for is to run them as efficiently as possible and fund the shortfall from general rates,” Mr Fleischfresser said.
“Retaining some services in the private hospital is as critical as any of the other services Council funds.”
He said this included a consultation venue for visiting specialists, day surgery, short-term or overnight stays post-surgery, and a palliative care unit.
“Visiting specialists are very unlikely to operate in a public system,” Mr Fleischfresser said.
He said public hospitals provided emergency services, maternity, surgical procedures, limited palliative care, limited on-site radiography plus short, medium and long-term hospitalisation.
“No matter which way you look at it, the optimum mix of both public and private services are critical for our community, even if the private hospital has a reduced list of services to provide,” he said.
“You may ask, why can’t the public and private exist under the one roof?
“To my knowledge there is no current policy under State Government legislation to cater for this arrangement.
“For this to occur there would need significant government legislative change as well as the political will to do so. This is something I am sure they would not entertain at this point in time.”
Mr Fleischfresser said the Darling Downs Health and Hospital Services Board application for a new public hospital in Kingaroy had progressed as far as humanly possible up to the internal review committee of the State Government.
“We are now waiting for their approval. Next step is for the State Government to commit to the construction of new public hospital,” he said.
“In summary, I ask the ratepayers of the South Burnett to express your opinion.
“Do you want to return to travelling to large metropolitan areas with increased costs of accommodation and travel, and isolation from family?
“Or do we (the community) direct the new Council to further investigate retaining the private hospital in a different format eg. day surgery, overnight stay, consultation venue for visiting specialists, palliative care unit?”
Mr Fleischfresser has invited residents to leave their opinions on his Facebook page
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Meanwhile, mayoral candidate Michael Brown says the South Burnett would already have a day surgery, GP clinic and specialists using the South Burnett Private Hospital if Council had accepted his proposal in May 2015.
He said he was angry Council had wasted $100,000 in due diligence investigations and “thousands more in travel” over the past eight months only to end up with the same result – but run by non-locals.
Mr Brown owns and manages the Glendon St Medical Centre which is located adjacent to the private hospital.
He is also director of a not-for-profit entity, Rural Medical Centres Limited, which has put forward a proposal to use the Council-owned hospital building.
Mr Brown said Rural Medical Centres had planned to provide complementary allied health and mental health services plus oncology at no cost to ratepayers.
“The model we proposed to Council was a forward-thinking and innovative health model that Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley was in favour of. It was much more responsive to community needs because it was created by us at the coalface of health in the region in direct response to what we see South Burnett residents need,” Mr Brown said.
“The Council wanted a full hospital and facilities.
“I offered a realistic and achievable solution eight months ago at no cost to ratepayers as a not-for-profit business and we could have saved $100,000 plus a lot of anguish for patients who needed day surgery procedures.
“Visiting specialists could have continued to consult and the transition made simple.
“This Council constantly spends money on non-core business such as private hospitals when our roads and other services are severely in need of improvement.
“In the case of the Private Hospital, Council kept the fact that it ran at a loss of almost $300,000 over the past two years quiet until last week in order to push their agenda, but that is a fact that ratepayers should have known before they were asked to sign a petition to keep it operating last year.”
He urged residents to attend Thursday’s Council meeting.
Related articles:
- More Delays Likely Over Hospital
- Hospital Meeting Now On Thursday
- Brown Blasts Council Over Hospital
- Hospital’s Fate Decided Next Week
- South Burnett Private Hospital Decision Delayed
- Hospital Decision Soon
- Council To Vote On Running Hospital
- Council Candidate Claims ‘Ego, Emotion’ For Hospital Decision
- Talk Of ‘Plan B’ Angers Mayor
- Doors Still Open At Private Hospital
- Mayor Hits The Road
- What More Can We Do?
- Huge Response To Hospital Campaign
- Why I Want To Be Mayor
- Mayor Appeals For Public Support
- Council Still Looking For Hospital Operator
- Still A Glimmer Of Hope For Hospital
- Hospital Deadline Looming
- Council In Talks With Qld Health
- Why We Need Our Private Hospital
- Closure Would Be ‘Absolute Disaster’
- Fingers Crossed For Private Hospital
- Mayor Off To Brisbane For Hospital Talks
- Mayor Gutted Over Hospital Closure
Turn it into a day surgery
My husband and I moved to Kingaroy just over three years ago. One of the main reasons for moving was there was a suitable private hospital where we could have minor surgery when required and be able to see our specialists on a regular basis. Now we are in limbo and looking at having to change all our specialists to those in Toowoomba and Brisbane. This will entail travel and accommodation costs which we as pensioners cannot afford on top of private health funds. I am very unhappy about the prospect that the hospital could be gone.
Specialist medical practitioners have the option of make arrangements with local medical clinics and doctors surgeries for consultations with private patients.