Medico: Move forward on health
retired Horsham surgeon who lobbied strongly against the merger of Wimmera health services is now stressing a need for communities to move ‘forward, onward and upward’ .
Ian Campbell said a sense of positivity in working to ensure the region developed the best medical services possible was essential, regardless of what structural system or process was in place.
He added that it would be the people of the region, through advocacy and patronage, who would ultimately dictate the type of services they wanted and needed.
“To be realistic, as a community we must articulate what we want. Generally we want a hospital where the people of Horsham district and the broader Wimmera can and want to receive first-class health services as or as near as possible to home,” he said.
“Importantly, we must get into a position where we move away from a perception that anywhere else can provide something better than what we do here. In many cases, this just isn’t true.”
Mr Campbell said an aim of district medical leaders had long been to establish Horsham’s Wimmera Base Hospital as the best ‘or as close to the best’ country hospital in Australia.
“In the end, in this world of restructured health services, we must ensure we have the best and most appropriate services here as possible,” he said.
“While many of us have fought hard against changes that have occurred, the fundamental need for quality medical services in the Wimmera remains.
“That has always been at the core of debate. So I say let’s move forward, onward and upward.
“We have a service in place that we as a community must work with and that will mean people strongly advocating for high-quality health care and providing direction.
“Through any of the complexities of the new arrangement, we must use the opportunity to establish the type and health service we want and need and that will take significant input from the community.
“Understanding what is or isn’t appropriate will be an important consideration and while it remains to be seen how this will evolve, we know it has to happen – so let’s get on with it.”
Mr Campbell said community clarity and understanding about what patient-care services could and should occur in the Wimmera and what patients needed to transfer to larger hospitals was critical.
“While there will always be a need for patient transfers, based on the varied circumstances involved, the key for here is to build on and strengthen local medical services and streamline them overall,” he said. Mr Campbell said one idea to kickstart fresh Wimmera solidarity in healthcare could be a public brainstorming gathering where people could outline preferred community direction.
“Getting this type of clarity would mean attracting major input from everyone from community leaders and specialists to the average person in the street,” he said.
“We need to continually set our sights on generating an environment where returning or coming to Horsham to work in the medical field or for treatment is an attractive proposition.”
Grampians Health formed last year after a merger between Wimmera Health Care Group, Stawell Regional Health, Edenhope and District Memorial Hospital and Ballarat Health Services.
The move polarised public sentiment.