The Health Minister, Michael Ferguson, will fail to convince the community of Oatlands and its environs that their Multi Purpose Health Centre is safe, given his ongoing obfuscation when questioned about future cuts to services, Greens Leader Kim Booth MP said today.
“The Greens have been raising for weeks now serious questions over the fate of the Midlands Multi-Purpose Health Centre based at Oatlands, including the loss of its ambulance service,” Mr Booth said.
“Yet Minister Ferguson continues to refuse to rule out any cuts to the Health Centre or the services it provides to the region’s rural community.”
“At a recent visit to Oatlands where I spoke to a range of locals, and medical professionals who work in the vicinity, it is clear the community is deeply concerned and frustrated over the lack of certainty for their ongoing access to health services.”
“The potential loss of nursing staff and their ambulance service is just another example of how out of touch this government is with the everyday needs of the community.”
“The Greens have also raised community frustrations over recent windbacks to services such as the cessation of the contract the Health Centre had with the local Oatlands pharmacy, as well as the outsourcing of food for the aged care facility to a facility in Cambridge.”
“Yet all Minister Ferguson does is indulge in blame-games. The locals who want to access panadol when they need it, don’t care about that, they just want to know what the Minister is going to do to ensure their ongoing access to reliable and affordable health services.”
“Will Hodgman’s election promise to support rural and regional communities is looking very shaky from the perspective of the Oatlands and broader Midlands community. They deserve straight answers,” Mr Booth said.