Activist Fay Campbell is calling on NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner to ‘’honour her promise’’ to secure a thoracic surgeon for Wollongong Hospital.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mrs Campbell – the chairwoman of the Illawarra Thoracic Committee – said Ms Skinner had led the community to believe that a thoracic service would open following the expansion of the public hospital.
In April 2014, Ms Skinner told parliament – in reply to a question on notice by Keira MP Ryan Park – that it was anticipated that ‘’a local thoracic service will commence following the commissioning of the new Illawarra Elective Surgical Services Centre’’.
In October that year, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District board chairman Denis King confirmed in a letter to Mr Park that the district would indeed establish that service.
However Mrs Campbell said the committee was devastated after Ms Skinner this month ‘’backflipped’’ on that undertaking – stating that a cardio thoracic service would be soon commencing at Wollongong Private Hospital instead.
‘’We deserve our own thoracic surgeon within the public health system,’’ Mrs Campbell said.
‘’The Minister stood up on the floor of parliament and made a commitment to the people of this region, and I’m asking her to honour that commitment.
‘’Our committee took her word for it, and waited patiently for the hospital expansion to be completed.
‘’Now we’re angry and feel let down and betrayed by this government at their treatment of the people of the Illawarra and Shoalhaven.
‘’We have been misled.’’
A union stalwart for 40 years, Mrs Campbell then led a – successful – campaign for a PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scanner to be installed at Wollongong Hospital.
It was personal heartache that led her to push for a full-time thoracic (lung) surgeon at the public hospital.
‘’Three years ago after my daughter needed surgery to have a tumour removed from her lung,’’ she said.
‘’However, with no surgeon down here she had to go to St George Hospital to be operated on.
‘’Because I then had to take over the full-time care of my son-in-law – left paralysed after a stroke – I was only able to visit my daughter once.
‘’It made me realise that there was a desperate need to have a thoracic surgeon in the region – currently there’s only cardio-thoracic surgeons that visit and consult.’’
Mrs Campbell said the committee sat patiently through the construction of the surgical centre; officially opened in December 2015.
‘’We trusted them, but we should have kept barging on with our campaign,’’ she said.
Limited service may be part of the plan
Keira MP Ryan Park has long supported a community campaign for thoracic surgery at Wollongong Hospital.
He raised the issue in parliament in March 2014, and in September that year wrote to Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District board chairman Denis King.
In his reply Professor King confirmed a thoracic service would be established at the hospital, following its expansion.
‘’Initially the district will offer a limited thoracic service which will include minor thoracic procedures,’’ he stated.
However earlier this month Mr Park received notification from NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner that the service would not go ahead as planned.
‘’Although there is no definitive plan for development of the service at this point in time, there will be a cardio thoracic service commencing at the new private hospital shortly, which will ensure there is local access to these types of services,’’ Ms Skinner stated.
An ISLHD spokeswoman told the Mercury this week that two cardio-thoracic surgeons from Sydney would continue to visit Wollongong Hospital weekly to consult with local patients.
Patients requiring specialised surgery were transferred to St George Hospital, with the majority returning to Wollongong for post-operative care.
‘’Additionally, in a bid to reduce the number of local patients having to travel to Sydney for minor thoracic (lung) procedures and diagnostics, a service for less complex cases is currently being developed by the district as part of our long-term clinical services plan,’’ she said.
‘’Highly specialised or complex thoracic cases will always be referred to a higher level specialist centre in Sydney.’’