Health system is 'breaking' Parkes

Parkes mayor Neil Westcott has warned the NSW Legislative Assembly Select Committee on Remote, Rural and Regional Health that by year's end a 'broken' Parkes may 'hardly have a doctor'. Speaking when the committee met in Orange recently Cr Westcott blamed "continual antagonism" for some of the problems now facing rural health. "This continual antagonism between primary care and the hospital system just doesn't work in a rural situation," Cr Westcott told the inquiry chair Dr Joe McGirr MP. "Our two main GP clinics that we have in Parkes at the moment, we're now being told they're going to be put up for sale. "This is a town of 12,000 people that, realistically, by the end of the year, may not hardly have a doctor," Cr Westcott said. Cr Ken Keith also addressed the inquiry asking what had happened since 44 recommendations regarding health were made to the Legislative Assembly two years ago. The two departments heading up health "don't seem to work together," he said. "The long term (aim in Parkes) is to try to build facilities that doctors are happy to come and work in our community because they've got the support of both the federal and state governments. "It's difficult because, basically, the federal government looks after the doctors and the state government looks after the health facilities - the hospitals - but the two don't seem to work together." Turning to 44 previous recommendations on health Cr Keith told the inquiry "part of it was this review that you're doing now, but we haven't seen - or I haven't seen, and it may exist - the report that actually says, 'We've adopted 10 of those recommendations and implemented those in regional areas'. "What has actually happened out of this report?" Cr Keith asked. Cr Westcott told the inquiry Parkes Shire Council has spent over $1 million providing doctors' residences, doctors' surgeries, ongoing maintenance and accommodation. "This is not local council remit and yet we're doing that," Cr Westcott said. "We are here today to once again lobby for this coming together of Commonwealth and state because we're broken. "The health service in Parkes is broken," Cr Wescott said adding health "is spending something like $13,000 to $15,000 a day" to bring in health services. "That's breaking their budget. It's a broken system," he said.