ANXIOUS pleas from the Eidsvold community in January for their hospital to remain open have echoed across the region, with the Hospital and Health Service (HHS) calling for Wide Bay residents to have their say.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
Community consultation sessions surrounding the recently released Strategic Plan Consultation Document have been conducted by HHS board members in all urban and rural locations across the region, wrapping up in Eidsvold, Monto and Mt Perry recently.
With the document pledging to deliver sustainable, patient focused, quality health services; engage with the community; develop and empower the workforce; encourage innovation and deliver the best value for money, it looks like a positive prognosis for the Wide Bay.
HHS board member Joy Jensen said the future sustainability of health care in the region will rely heavily on genuine community input, and encouraged residents to read the draft proposal and submit feedback to the board.
She emphasized that it is vital in a geographically diverse region like the Wide Bay, that health services offered are consistent across the region.
“There needs to be greater recognition of the rural areas and their needs,” she said.
“We desperately need all of these facilities to stay in our communities, stay fully accredited and be fit for purpose.”
An ageing population, low socio-economic status, and various lifestyle factors were noted as major pressure points for health care in the Wide Bay, but a common thread in each community consultation session was the bid for more reliable oral health care.
“We’ve now got wonderful nursing staff and wonderful doctors, but it is a lack of reliable dental services that is causing the most angst in Wide Bay communities,” Mrs Jensen said.
“I’m really pleased that issue has been raised, because it needs to be highlighted and we need to do more on that level.”
Mrs Jensen acknowledged that a major challenge for the region lies with elective procedures and specialist care, with excessive wait times a priority on the HHS board’s agenda.
“We understand services in metropolitan areas are very stretched, and for specialist issues, travel to the major centres is required.”
She hailed the Government’s telehealth program and said the board is keen to see it operating more efficiently throughout the region.
“Under that program, people can stay in their hometown and communicate with hospitals in Bundaberg or Brisbane via phone and video, so they don’t have to travel so much.
“And the sooner we can get patients out of those metropolitan hospitals after procedures, and back to their families, the better the recovery process.”
Mrs Jensen assured each community that this is only the first step in the drafting process and the board “will be back again and again,” with issues raised reflected in the document.
