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Mr ROBERT OAKESHOTT (Port Macquarie) [6.17 p.m.]: Tonight I refer to Port Macquarie Base Hospital and to the welcome release of the master plan 17 months after the hospital buy-back. The master plan, a much-anticipated document, looks at the future infrastructure needs of a hospital that is servicing one of the fastest growing communities in Australia. Last week's visit by the Minister for Health was welcomed and I think the master plan has been well accepted. Some of the issues addressed in it include $22 million of committed works at the hospital site, in addition to an integrated cancer care facility that is to be opened in April next year.It also includes the fixed breast screen facility as well as the 12-bed gazetted mental health unit.
In the past, those who have had involuntary mental health episodes have had to seek treatment out of town. Finally, after a decade or more, the biggest population north of Newcastle will be able to be treated at Port Macquarie Base Hospital once this gazetted mental health unit is completed. Good aspects of the master plan include a site for the University of New South Wales and the rural medical school program that is being run in conjunction with Port Macquarie Base Hospital. It is probably not widely known that Port Macquarie Base Hospital is a key teaching hospital in Australia. I think that would surprise a few people and crack a few stereotypes about universities and traditional teaching hospitals primarily focused in Sydney.
Port Macquarie is a leader in the area of student training. This is reflected by the fact that the University of New South Wales now has a site allocated within the Port Macquarie hospital precincts. The master plan identifies parking at the hospital as a hot local issue. It foreshadows significant improvements to parking capacity as well as the construction of a second access road. The master plan also highlights the fact that a private facility is to be built nearby and earmarks a particular location for day procedures. So the equivalent of a day procedure hospital will be located within the hospital, which is most welcome.
Most pleasing from my point of view is the master plan's preferred model of a fourth hospital wing or pod, which for the past 17 months has been in and out of the plan. The implications of this proposal are significant because it will allow for the much-needed expansion of the intensive care unit and for the construction of a 20-bed mental health bed unit, both of which were key priority commitments made in February 2005 by the then Minister for Health, who is now the Premier of New South Wales. He stood on the doorstep of Port Macquarie hospital and acknowledged both that the intensive care unit was undersized and that mental health care was significantly underresourced.
I am pleased that the fourth pod is on the agenda. It will also deliver improved administration, a better library and improved clinical training. The master plan provides for the construction of a helipad on the roof, because it makes sense to locate it as close as possible to the accident and emergency department. Also pleasing is, on the last page of the master plan, the addition of the cardiac catheterisation unit, which will be located next to the new facility.
Issues arising from the master plan include time frames and costs, neither of which is identified. The entire local community and I will push for the allocation of time frames and costs to all the work. The master plan also opens debate about what to do with the old Port Macquarie Base Hospital site and facilities. I believe the site could be used to find true homes for community services such as drug and alcohol services and renal dialysis, which could be moved to the old hospital. There is a valid clinical argument for such relocation.
We could then look to secure a commercial return from the site that would allow us to bring forward some time frames, act on the good news, and provide much-needed services to our community. That is an issue for not only the Minister for Health but also the Treasurer. If the old hospital site is to be sold in the short to medium term, Treasury should not take its slice of the sale proceeds. We should instead use that money in the community to achieve good local outcomes.
Private members' statements noted.
[Mr Deputy-Speaker left the chair at 6.22 p.m. The House resumed at 7.30 p.m.]