Kay Hull (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It must be a day for hospitals. Since 6 November 1980, when the then Premier Neville Wran announced plans for a new 250-bed hospital—valued at more than $30 million in those days—Wagga Wagga has witnessed successive state governments, both Labor and coalition, shift blame, break promises and announce funding as quickly as it has been retracted. Both governments have ignored rallies with thousands of people in attendance and, more importantly, the deaths of many individuals over a period of time which may have been avoided if we had had a facility that this city dearly needs. I have outlined this issue many times in various places, and I have a major issue to confront here as I try to outline the issues associated with the failure to deliver promised outcomes for the Riverina.

We have a converted, old and dysfunctional Wagga Wagga Base Hospital. It has been converted into a regional referral centre. It has had no attention to ensure the adequate capacity of the structure to accommodate such a move. There has been no money for capital works, and the morale of the wonderful staff is at an all-time low. They are forced to work in the most disgraceful conditions, and it is out of pure dedication that the fabulous staff continue under these conditions and under these circumstances.

To put the plight of the Riverina in perspective, it may be beneficial for me to address certain aspects of the history of our hospital. The Wagga Wagga Base Hospital is based on a 1930s design. During the latter half of the 1950s, the Minister for Health and the local member, with massive support from an ever-growing population, lobbied the New South Wales Health Commission to replace the outdated and defunct original hospital. The current building was completed in 1962. Over the years, our local hospitals across the region have been downgraded, and patient care has been moved to a regional referral centre at the Wagga Wagga Base Hospital. Yet no effort has been made to do the works required in order for the Wagga Wagga Base Hospital to actually service a regional site and to have regional hospital status.

The original 110-bed facility was transformed into a 220-bed facility by making many single rooms into doubles. Then, of course, double rooms were made into quadruples. Whilst small-scale redevelopments have taken place since 1962, including projects such as the upgrading of accident and emergency, the hospital, located in the biggest inland city in New South Wales, has evolved into the referral point for 250,000 people. Yet it is still essentially the original 110-bed facility. It is almost unbelievable to think that this could continue to take place.

I am going to outline some of the issues because I think it is prudent of me to put this on the record. This outline comes courtesy of the Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser and it shows the reason the people are very upset about what has taken place over the years. In February 1980, $15 million was provided in the then Labor state government’s 1979-80 capital works program for a Wagga Wagga Base Hospital redevelopment program. The amount was intended to finance all phases of planning and construction. In September 1980, no money was allocated to the project in the government’s loan program. In November 1980, the government promised Wagga a new hospital, to be built on the corner of Red Hill Road and the Holbrook Road. Construction of a 250-bed hospital, costing $30 million, was to start in 1981. The then Premier Neville Wran said, ‘I see no reason why this site should not be prepared next year.’

In June 1981, the then minister for health confirmed that there was no specific allocation in the state budget for the promised Wagga hospital. In February 1982, the government scrapped any plans for a new hospital. The then minister said it was one of a number of projects scrapped because of a shortage of funds. He said that $300,000 worth of planning would proceed on redevelopment of the existing hospital. In April 1982, the government diverted the planning money to short-term renovations and improvements. In July 1982, more than 1,000 people attended a protest rally to complain about the government’s treatment of Wagga Wagga, including the dropping of the hospital plans.

In March 1988, the then opposition leader, Nick Greiner, pledged to continue to work on the hospital if the coalition were elected later in the month. After the coalition won the election, it said that the reinstatement of architects for work on the hospital would be a priority for the government. In June 1988, doubts arose over a $75 million upgrade of the hospital after the then minister for health told the hospital board the works had not been included in the former Labor government’s five-year works program. In July 1988, the acting regional health director, Brian Tutt, said that there would be no major redevelopment of the hospital for five years, but planning for $30 million worth of upgrading would continue. On 30 July 1988, the government said that $300,000 worth of planning would position the hospital for inclusion in the government’s 1992-93 capital works program. He then blamed the former government for the major redevelopment not going ahead, saying that that government had ‘checked out without paying its bills’. In October 1988, the hospital board was told by the secretary of the department of health that the redevelopment of the hospital had been set down for 1992-93 at a cost of $30 million.

There was no action between October 1988 and March 2003, when the state Labor government announced $400,000 for the planning of a new regional hospital at Wagga Wagga. On 9 March 2003, the opposition pledged to spend $90 million on a new hospital if they were elected. In October 2005, a value management study chose to build a new hospital on the existing site at an estimated cost of more than $220 million. In March 2007, specialists lashed out at the state government after the Greater Southern Area Health Service chief executive officer said that work on the hospital would not start before 2011 under current funding models and would not be finished before 2015. On 15 March 2007, 2,000 Riverina residents attended a public rally in Baylis Street in Wagga Wagga to demand a start to a new hospital that would be able to deal satisfactorily with the referrals and the way in which health was being run in the Riverina.

Successive state governments—and I am not here to run down any particular Labor government or the one that is still standing—have failed at every level of responsibility to provide a hospital capable of dealing with a catchment of around 250,000 people. Various problems have eventuated from these 27 years of broken promises. It is widely accepted that people in Wagga Wagga can be forced to spend days in the emergency department whilst a bed is found. Granted, every hospital in Australia does at times experience circumstances of overcrowding such as this, but they are not forced to contend with juggling 220 beds for a catchment of around 250,000 people. The hospital is the primary referral point for a radius of greater than 400 kilometres.

Amongst the many issues, here is a shortlist of the problems that are compounding day by day: antiquated facilities in children’s wards and bathrooms, sometimes making infection control very difficult; inadequate lighting in rooms, which limits accurate patient examination; outdated and inadequate beds, which were to be replaced in 2005; a lack of privacy in the renal dialysis unit; grossly inadequate physical facilities for pathology, radiology and other services; and inadequate bathrooms, toilets and basins—in many cases bathrooms are shared by male and female patients at the same time.

The facilities are inadequate. We have a major problem getting this message across. Riverina residents deserve better, the people of Wagga Wagga deserve better and the very committed and dedicated health professionals in the city of Wagga Wagga deserve better. Today I have raised the very significant issue of the plight of the Riverina people and their access to quality health care, particularly with the quality of a public hospital system that has seen successive governments—(Time expired)

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