So on one hand we have been told emphatically and unequivocally and “over my dead body” that no services will be relocated from Bourke Street Health Service to Goulburn Base until the new hospital is completed.
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On the other, the Post has trustworthy sources telling us a “consultation” occurred this week in which the movement of beds from the Palliative Care Unit at Bourke Street to the Southern Area Rehabilitation Unit at Goulburn Base under a “different model of care” was definitely discussed.
Just what is the truth here?
We are inclined to trust our sources, rather than politicians, or spin doctors distancing themselves from this potential public relations mess.
It is embarrassing for Ms Goward that this has come up again, which is why she has gone on the attack and labelled it as “misinformation”, vowing to hunt down the sources of it.
But it really begs the question: just what is the Local Health District’s (LHD) agenda here?
Despite their assurances in carefully crafted media statements that nothing is afoot – in closed door discussions – a meeting definitely happened, at which movement of beds was definitely discussed.
So instead of hunting down these supposed “whistle blowers” – who are only trying to protect the community – why not pin down the LHD Board instead?
It again highlights the need for more openness and transparency from these bureaucrats, who are adept at saying one thing in a media statement, while all signs point to the active plotting of something else entirely.
BEDS AND CIRCUSES
But for an insight as to why state health agencies and our public representatives might fear community forums, we need look no further than the neighbouring Wingecarribee Shire and the public-private partnership (PPP) plan slated for Bowral Hospital.
A community meeting on that matter in that town on Monday night was most noted for boorish behaviours by Wollondilly MP Jai Rowell, alternately inattentive and disruptive as the public tried to address him and Ms Goward, among others present.
In a hall with standing room only, the State Member of Parliament had to sit down mid-presentation as an indignant audience voiced its objections to such abject insult. Add that insult to the injury of compromised delivery on essential health services … how do they sleep while our beds are burning?
