AMA (NSW) President: The most important thing is to get a new Maitland Hospital of appropriate size

AMA (NSW) President, Prof Brad Frankum, says however the promised new Maitland Hospital is funded, it must be of a size to meet growing community needs.

“The argument over how the new Maitland Hospital will be funded is an important one and there needs to be an outcome that’s in the best interests of the community.

“However, the planning for the hospital cannot continue on its current trajectory.

“If it does, Maitland will not have a hospital that’s up to the task of caring for one of the most rapidly growing areas in the country.

“The NSW Government wants to rely on efficiency and innovation to prevent the state’s hospitals from being overrun with the tsunami of demand we are facing.

“They help, and hospitals are becoming more efficient and innovative every day, but they are no substitute for larger facilities and more active beds,” Prof Frankum said.

“Doctors at the hospital have been alarmed for some time about the way the Government has approached the redevelopment.

“They know they need a bigger facility than is currently planned to cope with the growing and ageing population.

“It’s the same story across NSW – more people, who are older and sicker, are presenting to hospital emergency departments every quarter.

“It’s reached the point that, nearly every time a quarterly report is released, we are breaking records for the number of people who need treatment,” Prof Frankum said.

“Maitland hospital is very important to get right because it supports nine other hospitals, including Kurri Kurri, Scone, Muswellbrook, Cessnock, and Singleton.

“No hospital in NSW is an island; they are all part of a complex system that can direct people, who need specific types of care, to the places they can best get it.

“In the case of smaller hospitals like Kurri Kurri, it needs to direct patients to larger ones like Maitland, just as Maitland needs to transport certain patients to John Hunter or Sydney.

“That said, at each of these points, hospitals need to be able to provide an appropriate minimal level of care for their communities.

“For that to happen in Maitland, the Government needs to get it right from the outset,” Prof Frankum said.

Media contact: Lachlan Jones 0419 402 955