Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE (Bega) [5.53 p.m.]: Earlier today I stood on the steps of Parliament House and received a petition from the Pambula Hospital Action Group containing 22,000 signatures that had been collected over the past two months from constituents in the Bega Valley shire. As the population in the Bega Valley is of the order of 33,000 people, it is significant that 22,000 people were willing to sign that petition. It is the largest number of names that I have seen on a petition since becoming the member for Bega, and no doubt it demonstrates a clear majority view about the way in which health services should be managed in Bega Valley shire.

The petition asks the State Government to return services to Pambula hospital; to develop a clinical services plan; to engage and consult nurses and doctors about services at the facility and, in so doing, address the low morale; to overhaul governance at the hospital; to ensure better utilisation of the hospital's operating theatre; to provide additional resources for maintenance; to ensure better coordination between Pambula and Bega hospitals; and to consult with the local community about the future of the facility when a new $1 billion regional facility is to be built at Bega. I thank all those who dedicated their time over the summer months to collect the names that are on this petition. Every time I attended a community event, whether it was a country show or any other community event, someone was always there to collect names to put on the petition.

I thank Shirley Rixon and Neil Rainbow, who were part of that push, and I thank other members of the Pambula Hospital Action Group, in particular, Sharon Tapscott, who was involved in coordinating the 1,000 kilometre round trip for a number of residents who came to State Parliament today to deliver the petition. It was an almighty job on the part of the Pambula Hospital Action Group. I do not think that the Labor Government, Minister John Della Bosca, and local representatives Mike Kelly and Steve Whan can ignore it. It is not unreasonable for the community to request that services be returned to Pambula hospital.

Recently the health service, in good faith, requested a meeting with the action group to discuss the chief executive officer's plans to reinstate a number of services at Pambula hospital. The meeting took place two weeks ago and was requested by the chief executive officer of the health service. She said at that meeting that a number of services would be reinstated by the middle of the year, including cardiac monitoring, paediatric services and, hopefully, a number of other surgical procedures. This is some sort of a win for a community that has been fighting for the reinstatement of obstetric services at that hospital.

The decision of the Labor Party to close down that service resulted in the loss of jobs for four rural obstetricians who are now being requested to travel to Bega to commence work there. It is shameful that full maternity services are not available at both Bega and Pambula hospital, as was the case prior to January 2007. The Government said that this service was not feasible due to a shortage of nurses and on-call theatre staff. We do not want to go back to a situation where we had alternating rosters between the two hospitals. It was unacceptable for women who had just had a Caesarean and others who were in labour to be transferred between the two sites.

Over the next few months we will be watching closely to see whether the chief executive officer of the health service delivers on her assurances. We recognise that this will involve the medical staff councils at both hospitals and the nurses working together to achieve a broadening of surgical procedures at Pambula over the next few months, for example, ophthalmology, endoscopy, orthopaedic and general surgery. This petition, which I will table next week, is a significant message to the State Government: People are supportive of a new $100 million facility but they want the future of Pambula hospital secured. They do not want to see that facility closed as per the plan of the Labor Party. A consultation process must commence between the local community, doctors, nurses and the Government to establish what can be achieved at Pambula hospital in the future. I urge Minister John Della Bosca to consult with the community immediately.