WORRIED nurses fear job and service cuts in the Murrumbidgee Local Health District after witnessing cost-saving cutbacks in the western and southern districts.
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Nurses and Midwives Association organiser Shaye Candish yesterday said directions had been given for health services across NSW to save money, and jobs were going as a consequence.
"There is definitely a trend we are seeing statewide where there is a reduction in service provision," Ms Candish said.
After years of experiencing multimillion-dollar deficits, the Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) will reveal its 2012-13 financial result in Wagga at an annual public meeting on December 18.
There are fears that programs and jobs may be slashed in order to keep ballooning health costs under control.
The district's chief executive, Susan Weisser, yesterday afternoon withdrew an invitation to be interviewed about the meeting when told finances would be one of the issues she would be questioned about.
Instead, she issued a short statement that said MLHD received an additional $21.4 million in funding, or a 4.7 per cent increase, in 2013-14 to a total allocation of $478 million.
"This will support growing demand for patient services, particularly acute and emergency services," Ms Weisser said.
The MLHD last December reported a $14.5 million deficit for 2011-12 and a $10 million deficit for six months before then.
It projected an $8 million shortfall for 2012-13, but was keeping mum yesterday on whether or not that estimate was accurate and what the consequences would be if it was much larger.
This year and going forward, the health district also has added the expense of running a much larger 50-bed mental health unit that will employ 70 nurses when fully staffed early next year.
And Wagga Base Hospital has been shelling out millions of dollars every year for a number of years to fly in psychiatric and obstetrics locums to cover staff shortages.
Cuts are already being felt in the Western NSW Local Health District, which recorded a $19.5 million deficit for 2012-13.
Nurses at Bathurst are taking action against the district's decision to close five beds in the hospital's medical ward from December 9.
Cuts are being made in the western district's smaller sites in what nurses are branding a "slash and burn" campaign in which reductions are being made by stealth.
Ms Candish said she did not know what the MLHD financial position was, and what it might herald, but she is aware of a statewide move to save money.
Ms Weisser said MLHD would work with clinicians and communities to ensure the right initiatives are implemented across the local health district to deliver the best possible outcomes for patients.
