A planned public-private partnership for the new Lower Hunter hospital should be canned following the retirement of Health Minister Jillian Skinner, Maitland Labor MP Jenny Aitchison says.
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Mrs Skinner announced her retirement from politics on Friday ahead of a Cabinet reshuffle by new Premier Gladys Berejiklian, who named Brad Hazzard the state’s new Health Minister on Sunday.
He will be sworn-into the position on Monday.
Mrs Skinner’s retirement came about a week after Premier Mike Baird announced he would leave politics, meaning two of the major players in planning the future direction of the Lower Hunter hospital would no longer make key decisions about the proposed health facility.
It’s not yet known what Ms Berejiklian and Mr Hazzard’s stance is on a possible public-private partnership (PPP) for the Lower Hunter hospital.
But Ms Aitchison said it was time for the government to scrap plans for a PPP and “immediately commence construction” of the hospital.
“The [Coalition] government has been in office for almost six years, our community has waited almost six years,” she said.
“Our community is wondering what surprises the new Health Minister has in store for us.
“The lack of consultation with the community so far has been disgraceful.
“All we have to show for the millions of dollars that have been spent in the last six years is a sign on Metford Road and advertising in the local newspapers telling us how great this shrinking privatised hospital will be.
“I’ve been a strong advocate for the hospital since before I was elected, and I will continue to fight to ensure that our new hospital is publicly operated and kept in public hands.”
Maitland is one of a handful of hospitals that have the prospect of a PPP hanging over them.
Despite Mrs Skinner previously saying the new hospital would provide healthcare for everyone – not just private patients – there have been questions from Labor and the unions as to what a PPP would mean for access to healthcare at the new facility.
Unions NSW Acting Secretary Thomas Costa said PPPs for hospitals at Maitland, Wyong, Shellharbour and Bowral would turn the concept of public health on its head.
“The new Health Minister ought to march into the Premier’s office and demand that this sell-off be scrapped,” he said.
“Anything less would be selling out the interests of regional NSW.”
Nick Bielby
Nick Bielby is a crime reporter who has worked as a journalist since 2011. Having joined the Newcastle Herald in 2017, he won a Walkley Award in 2019 with Donna Page for their investigation 'Dirty Deeds', which exposed the decades of illegal dumping of toxic material in and around a Hunter waterway.
Nick Bielby is a crime reporter who has worked as a journalist since 2011. Having joined the Newcastle Herald in 2017, he won a Walkley Award in 2019 with Donna Page for their investigation 'Dirty Deeds', which exposed the decades of illegal dumping of toxic material in and around a Hunter waterway.
