GANNAWARRA Shire Council has pledged to take a leadership role in advocating to ensure that local health services are retained.
The withdrawal of maternity services at Cohuna District Hospital last week and reinstatement following protest action by the community and the action by four general practitioners to withdraw their services has highlighted a broader issue of recruiting and retaining doctors.
Echuca Regional Health, which also manages Cohuna, has now agreed to provide back-up support for the town’s only GP obstetrician, Dr Peter Barker, after previously stating that birthing services would cease because he “can’t be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 30 days a month”.
Cohuna District Hospital is now urgently seeking an experienced GP obstetrician to help provide birthing services.
Kerang District Health chief executive officer, Robert Jarman said that his health service has been advertising with medical recruitment agencies for two years since the last GP obstetrician resigned.
The hospital has a team of midwives, but the absence of a GP obstetrician means that maternity services have been terminated.
Northern District Community Health chief executive officer, Mandy Hutchinson revealed this week that its Kerang clinic will lose three of its five doctors early next year.
Gannawarra mayor, Cr Brian Gibson said last week that while council shared the relief of the community, following last week’s updated advice that midwifery services would be reinstated at Cohuna, it recognised that the response from the Cohuna, the wider Gannawarra and surrounding community and the medical practitioners showed that this service was a necessary requirement for our municipality and neighbouring areas.
“Council will continue advocating strongly to the State and Federal governments to ensure appropriate services are provided to our communities, and we will work with the health sector to ensure obstetrics services will continue to be provided to the residents of the Gannawarra shire,” Cr Gibson said.
The Department of Health and Human Services has no direct role in recruitment of medical staff for public hospitals.
A department spokesperson said that the hospital was responsible for hiring its own staff.
“The Cohuna (District) Hospital is responsible for recruiting and they are doing everything they can to address the issue,” he said.
Nationals leader, Peter Walsh has sponsored a petition that is due to be presented to State Parliament next week, demanding that the government maintain local health services.
