The Labor party announced on Friday, April 15 that it will provide Maitland Hospital with a full Medicare Benefit Schedule (MBS) licence if elected, something the local health committee has been campaigning for since 2020.

Currently, Maitland Hospital's MRI machine can only be used for inpatients and emergency patients.

A full MBS licence would allow external medical practitioners to refer patients to be tested by Maitland Hospital's MRI machine, for free.

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Member for Paterson, Meryl Swanson said this will mean locals have access to the quality care they need when they need it.

"I am pleased to announce that a Labor government will help people access life-saving medical scans by providing a Medicare-eligible MRI licence for Maitland Hospital," Ms Swanson said.

Liberal candidate for Paterson, Brooke Vitnell, told The Mercury earlier this month that she has written to the Minister for Health about the licence.

"I support increased access to MRI services for our community," she said.

"I have written and engaged with the Federal Minister for Health, the Hon Greg Hunt MP, bringing this issue to his attention for the Maitland community."

The process to get a full MRI licence usually requires applying when the federal government calls for an Invitation To Apply (ITA), which was last called for in 2018.

A spokesperson for Hunter New England Health said they applied for a full MBS MRI licence when the ITA was last called in 2018, but were unsuccessful in the application for Maitland Hospital.

Gordon Gorton, a community representative at Maitland Local Health Committee, said people from the Upper Hunter will also benefit greatly from the licence, and it will reduce current wait times, travel times and costs.

"When they get this licence they'll be able to offer the MRI service to people within the hospital and also the people coming externally to the hospital," Mr Gorton said.

Mr Gorton said the local health committee is very pleased with the announcement from Labor.

"Our advocacy is not concerned with the politics of the issue. Our advocacy is concerned with the health of the community and the total utilisation of the MRI machine," he said.

In 2021, the Maitland Local Health Committee provided a document to all levels of government from the Prime Minister to our local members, detailing the justification for the licence along with letters of support from clinicians and councillors.

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