Opinion: Ripple effects of 'unacceptable' Coota hospital plan far-reaching

I was shocked, dismayed, and angry to find that among other things, it contained proposed changes impacting the future availability of maternity, surgical, and pathology services.

These services are very closely interconnected, and if you start cutting services in one area, it very quickly impacts others; just like a pebble in a pond, the ripple effects are far-reaching.

The plan is a critical document, and one that impacts every single resident of Cootamundra and surrounds.

However, it fails to meet community expectations, and falls well short of what this community needs when it comes to healthcare, both now and in the future.

This is completely unacceptable; we need a strengthening of services, not cuts.

We need healthcare close to home; it is unreasonable to expect vulnerable people to travel vast distances to receive healthcare that should be available in their hometown.

Not to mention the fact, we shouldn't be overburdening the already over-worked hospitals in our bigger centres like Wagga - that's not the answer.

This community is growing; the government is actively encouraging people to relocate to the regions, so it's vital we have the support services in place for current and future residents.

Since becoming aware of the plan, I've had a meeting bringing together a wide range of stakeholders - doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, pathologists, new mums, and other members of the community - to discuss our concerns.

The meeting was all about getting a wholistic perspective, and giving a voice to a community who feel they haven't been properly consulted, and who have serious and legitimate concerns; healthcare isn't as simple as responses to a survey, or about numbers on a spreadsheet.

The MLHD needs to go back to the drawing board, and properly consult and take the community's needs and concerns into account.

In the meantime, the Regional Health Minister Ryan Park must firstly: come to Cootamundra and see for himself the impact that the proposed changes outlined in the plan would have, and secondly: intervene and rule out any cuts or downgrading of health services at the Cootamundra Hospital.

Anything less is completely unacceptable.