Deniliquin Hospital
Page: 13733
Mr PICCOLI (Murrumbidgee) [12.27 p.m.]: I draw the attention of honourable members to a development in Deniliquin, which is in the south-west corner of the electorate of Murrumbidgee. Over the past five or 10 years Deniliquin has had difficulties with its medical services, especially with the ad hoc way Deniliquin Hospital has been developed. The original building was constructed a long time ago. Deniliquin is a terrific town in country New South Wales. It was one of the first inland areas to be developed when people came from Melbourne to settle beside the Edward River. The age of the town means that some services need updating, including the hospital's facilities.
As I said, the original hospital building was constructed many years ago. The ad hoc extensions to the building over the years have caused difficulties within the hospital in terms of airconditioning, heating, et cetera. The expansion and development of the building has been inappropriate. In 2001 Deniliquin has a hospital that is difficult to manage and difficult and expensive to staff due to the size of the building, compared to the size the building should have been. The community of Deniliquin has set the ball rolling to put together a redevelopment plan for the hospital. Five or six years ago the Greater Murray Area Health Service devised a plan for totally rebuilding the hospital on a greenfield site. That would have gone a long way to addressing the provision of health services in Deniliquin.
Deniliquin is having trouble retaining general practitioners [GPs] and one reason for that is the disjointed layout of the local hospital. The hospital needs to be redeveloped on a greenfield site to make it a much more practical and effective hospital and to reduce its running costs. The hospital incurs one of the highest heating and cooling bills of any hospital in the greater Murray area, because of its great size. The hospital's size contributes to its dysfunction for the nursing staff. I commend the medical and nursing staff at Deniliquin and throughout New South Wales for the work they do.
The difficulty of retaining GPs in Deniliquin has something to do with the state of its hospital and certainly a redevelopment of the hospital would go a long way towards assisting doctors to remain there and in attracting further GPs and specialist services to the town. Deniliquin is located in the south-west corner of New South Wales. When one travels west from Deniliquin the next town with similar services is Mildura. Deniliquin has a large geographic catchment area and provides important services to people, some of whom live in isolated areas.
A few weeks ago I met with the local council and health service providers. We discussed the best way to pursue a redevelopment of the hospital, which both groups are interested in doing. I hope that in the very near future the council will resolve to redevelop the site. Hopefully a plan will be forthcoming for that redevelopment, which will be of great benefit to Deniliquin and the areas west of that town.