Rural Health Forum

Published on 17 May 2022

Leeton Shire Council’s Mayor Tony Reneker, Deputy Mayor Michael Kidd, Health Portfolio lead Cr Tony Ciccia, General Manager Jackie Kruger and Leeton Health Services Crisis Committee members Maryann Iannelli and Paul Maytom attended last Friday’s Rural Health Forum in Griffith, arranged by Member for Murray, Helen Dalton. 

The Forum focussed on the recent Inquiry into Health Outcomes and Access to Health and Hospital Services in Rural, Regional and Remote NSW, released in early May 2022. The full report can be found at:

Health outcomes and access to health and hospital services in rural, regional and remote New South Wales

The Leeton Shire Council and Leeton Health Services Crisis Committee have confirmed that the findings of the Inquiry resonate well with the Leeton community’s concerns and cover all of the issues and ideas raised in Council’s submission in 2021.  The twenty-two Inquiry findings cover 6 distinct themes, being:

  • Confirmation that rural patients have inferior access to hospital and health services leading the poorer health outcomes overall.
  • Workforce challenges, including under resourcing of doctors and nurses / midwives leading to burnout; an outdated Visiting Medical Officer system, and a culture of fear about speaking out.   
  • Clunky, complicated and fragmented funding and governance structures for health at federal and state level which results in a lack of public accountability; service duplication and service gaps; and patients getting ‘lost’ in the system due to ineffective coordination and communication.
  • Failure to align services with genuine community need and workforce capacity / capability, and tokenistic community consultation.
  • Lack of affordable and culturally appropriate healthcare services, and sometimes even discrimination and racism.
  • Reduced ability for NSW Ambulance Service to respond to emergencies in a timely and safe manner due to them being used inappropriately for Patient Transport outside of the towns/areas they are meant to service.

The 293-page Inquiry Report makes forty four recommendations from improved funding models for services and patients; to better patient transport; more culturally appropriate services; better integrated planning of local primary health, hospital and ambulance services;  increased doctor numbers and improved employment / remuneration models for GP trainees; development of a workforce recruitment and retention strategy; improved staff engagement and complaints management mechanisms; wider implementation of Nurse Practitioner models of care;  better preventative medicine; a further inquiry into mental health services; a review of maternity services and improved midwifery continuity of care; review of ambulance services including use of paramedics for patient transfers; improvements to virtual / telehealth care; better public information about available services; the maintenance of a Regional Health Minister on cabinet; and the establishment of a Health Administration Ombudsman.

The LHSCC and Council welcome these recommendations as they are working towards some of those exact outcomes for Leeton’s Integrated Health Services Strategy Plan.

Speaking at Friday’s forum, chairperson of the LHSCC Maryann Iannelli, highlighted the collaborative approach Leeton’s community and Council are taking to better local health services. Ms Iannelli asked NSW Minister for Health Brad Hazzard “will the new Regional Health Division for NSW Health work with local communities to deal with system issues in delivering health services and be proactive about tailoring solutions?”

This question was heartily responded to by all panellists as it seems systems failures are recognised as contributing greatly to the loss in the quality of rural and regional health outcomes.

“In short, the answer is yes,” Minister Hazzard responded. 

“Leeton looks forward to the Minister and NSW government fully understanding and addressing those systems issues, along with our local community and local service providers”, said Ms Iannelli.

Reflecting on if and how quickly the NSW government will respond to the Inquiry, Mayor Tony Reneker says that “The situation we face today is the result of decades of historic failure by various NSW and Australian governments to properly structure and resource rural health, hospital and ambulance services.  We can’t wait any longer – we need action now.  Importantly, that action needs to suit the needs of our community. I am pleased to see the Inquiry has identified that rural and remote health systems are fundamentally different to urban and city health systems and will not be solved by a one size fits all approach.” 

Chairperson of the Leeton Health Services Crisis Committee, Maryann Iannelli, also shares the view that Leeton’s health services must be tailored and is quick to point out that money isn’t always the solution to governance issues.

“At Friday’s Forum in Griffith I was struck by how the NSW Minister for Health constantly referenced financial investment in bricks and mortar as proof of the government’s commitment to solving health issues in rural NSW.  Our issues in Leeton are largely about ineffective systems, fragmented funding and workforce shortages. Addressing these needs to be prioritised.  What we need is better alignment of services, greater service accountability and a stronger community led approach to services, in keeping with the place-based approach that has been recommended in the Report.  It is important that the Minister for Health understands this more clearly and works with the findings instead of defending the status quo.”

Council’s portfolio lead on health, Cr Tony Ciccia, was pleased that Council’s suggestion for placed based service planning was picked up in the Inquiry Report. Recommendation 43 calls for “Place-Based Health Needs Assessments and Local Health Plans” in partnership with key health and community stakeholders. 

“Leeton is grateful to be working closely with senior officials from the MLHD, MPHN and NSW Ambulance Service who are all showing a keen willingness to explore innovative ways to help close our service gaps and better align services with our community needs.  We are just starting the journey, but we are off to a positive start.  It is important that all health agencies offering services in Leeton get on board early so that we can make a difference as quickly as possible”, said Cr Ciccia. 

As co-chairs of Leeton’s Integrated Health Services Strategy project, Mayor Tony Reneker and Mrs Iannelli said they will be putting forward Leeton as a Rural Area Community Controlled Health Organisation Pilot, in accordance with Recommendation 10 of the Inquiry.  In a joint statement they have said:

“We have been encouraged in our recent meetings with Regional Health Minister, Bronnie Taylor, and CEO of the MLHD, Jill Ludford by their appreciation of the issues we face and their willingness to think outside the square in our collective attempts to find solutions. We hope to persuade them and the federal Minister for Health to have the courage to pilot a Rural Area Community Controlled Health Organisation (RACCHO) in Leeton.  It’s time to put back into local hands the governance of local health services and we are sure that with everyone’s full collaboration we can make a Leeton RACCHO pilot a success for all concerned.”   

Leeton Shire Council and the Leeton Health Services Crisis Committee thanked Ms Dalton for organising the Health Forum which included Inquiry panel member Cate Faehrmann, Shadow Minister for Health Ryan Park, NSW Minister for Health Brad Hazzard, CEO of Rural and Remote Medical Services Dr Mark Burdack and Dr Marion McGee, a long serving Deniliquin based GP. 

The full recording of the Health Forum can be viewed on Helen Dalton MP Facebook page.

Contacts:

  • Maryann Iannelli
  • Mayor Tony Reneker
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