Skip to main content

Mansfield Courier 220524

Page 1

mansfieldcourier.com.au

MANSFIELD COURIER - Wednesday, May 22, 2024 - Page 1

2022

Incorporating

Wednesday, May 22, 2024

Phone: (03) 5775 2115

LORD’S PAVILION FUNDED Page 3

FEDERAL BUDGET BREAKDOWN

www.mansfieldcourier.com.au

$2.00 (inc.GST)

EAGLES DEFEAT SHEPPARTON Page 4

Sport

Hands off our hospital DOCTORS across the shire are profoundly concerned that proposed state budget reforms to the health system under the guise of fiscal accountability will result in the loss or reduction of local services and jobs, with the Mansfield District Hospital under threat of amalgamation if costs don’t come down. In the recent budget,

BY EMMA OLIVER eoliver@ nemedia.com.au

health service delivery across the state came under the microscope, with hospitals and health service providers tasked with adhering strictly to government-enforced budgets and targets.

However this represents a challenge as many services across the state currently run in deficit. Operational costs have risen on average 9.8 per cent per annum for the last five years, with funding only covering day-to-day costs leaving little to replace outdated equipment, introduce needed services or recruit specialists and

additional staff. Taking this into account, the Australian Medical Association of Victoria has queried how government funding has been costed to allow hospitals to meet future demand alongside delivering high-quality patient care and worker entitlements. Touting a five-year investment of $8.8 billion in the health sector,

Minister for Health MaryAnne Thomas believes the government’s plan will deliver this financial certainty and drive the focus on to frontline services. “It is important we look at how the system is organised to ensure we are delivering the very best health care, closer to home, for Victorian patients where they live,” said Ms Thomas.

Victoria currently has 76 health services. Ms Thomas believes this results in a system where care is fractured and fragmented. Under the government’s plan, the 76 would be reduced to 12 with six services in metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria divided into six sub-regions. ■ Continued page 2

SPEAKING UP: Doctors across the shire are concerned that proposed state budget reforms to the health system under the guise of fiscal accountability will result in the loss or reduction of local services and jobs, with the Mansfield District Hospital under threat of amalgamation if costs don’t come down. The effective gagging of hospitals across the state has mobilised our local GPs to speak up, with a rally organised for June 15 with both state and federal members in attendance. Over the coming weeks, the doctors will also be gathering signatures on a petition opposing any forced amalgamations. PHOTO: Sandra Lee Photography


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Mansfield Courier 220524 by Provincial Press Group - Issuu