AMID angst about the future of Portland District Health, Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell says a report into the hospital must be released.
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Ms Britnell raised the issue in Parliament on Tuesday, calling for transparency from the state government about the future of the hospital and a guarantee services would not be closed or amalgamated.
"The Hillis report clearly states amalgamation is not the answer for Portland, but it seems clear that is what the government is intending to do," she said. "There always needs to be co-operation between health organisations, the sharing of expertise and utilisation of services, but that is very, very different to amalgamation."
She said the report clearly stated PDH needed assistance from the government, who had not implemented necessary changes at the health service and had ignored recommendations from previous reviews. Ms Britnell said there was significant angst in the Portland community about the future of the hospital and the government's intentions.
Last year she called on the Health Minister to categorically rule out merging PDH with another health service after board appointments and a government health service plan indicated there was an amalgamation agenda.
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In an open letter to the Portland community, and viewed by The Standard, board member Peter Matthews denied the hospital was closing, being downgraded or amalgamated.
"I can confidently reassure the community that there is no substance to these claims, rather your beloved health service and hospital is experiencing a time of growth," he said.
Mr Matthews said the health service was actively seeking more staff, including a general surgeon and general physician, other medical staff and other roles. He said PDH was also committed to providing safe, effective care through all facets of its service.
"The PDH board is getting on with the business of consistently reviewing medical service, budgets and obligations to clinical governance, our workforce and our community," Mr Matthews said. "There will be challenges along the way but we are confident we are heading in the right direction."
Portland and surrounding communities are banding together on Friday with a march at Market Square, amid concerns around staffing issues, with industrial operators in high-risk settings wanting the service to stay.
One of the organisers, Ellen Linke, said the march tied in with an online petition by PDH doctors which had been signed by more than 1600 people. She said specialist doctors who were signatories to the petition were expected to attend the march.
"We want to get the message across to the board that they should listen to the locals that we need more local people on the (hospital's) board," she said. Three of the nine board members live in Portland.
Ms Linke claimed those board members not living in Portland lacked knowledge of the town and its industries.
"It only needs to have a major incident at the smelter to be totally overpowered at the hospital and they just wouldn't be able to cope," she said. "They really need to get more experienced doctors."
Ms Linke said the hospital did not have an accident, emergency or casualty department and was understaffed for an industrial town. Her and her late husband have been patients at the hospital, and their two daughters were born there more than 40 years ago.
The march begins at Market Square Reserve at 1pm. The PDH board were contacted for further comment.
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