Gunnedah mayor Jamie Chaffey calls on NSW government to make Gunnedah hospital upgrade clinical services plan available to public

The mayor released a statement today claiming the community had "not been consulted on the development of the CSP and council strongly refutes Hunter New England Health's (HNEH) suggestion that anything even approaching adequate community consultation for this project has been conducted".

"We are extremely disappointed this promised consultation has not occurred and the draft CSP is now on the desk of the NSW Minister for Health for approval without valuable community input," he said.

Councillor Chaffey called on Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson to "step up and work with the Minister for Health to redress this matter and provide transparency by placing the draft CSP on public exhibition".

Mr Anderson told media in Tamworth this afternoon community consultation had occurred, however HNEH "need to get better at communicating".

"Communication is important when you don't communicate on such a big issue, like a $53 million redevelopment of a hospital for a town the size of Gunnedah, about 13,000 people," he said.

"I think it's important that information be put out there.

"HNEH will no doubt get that message very loud and clear, and start communicating more frequently."

Mr Anderson said he is in conversation with HNEH about their "lack of communication" and had spoken with the CEO earlier today.

"In my view HNEH need to step up their communication because if you don't communicate, there's a void, someone's going to jump in it," he added.

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Council has stated they will lead a petition to the parliament on behalf of the Gunnedah community if the "needed consultation is not undertaken".

"Without the genuine input of our local healthcare providers, community and other stakeholders it is difficult to comprehend how this plan can be truly representative of the current and future needs of our shire," Councillor Chaffey said.

"The upgrade of the Gunnedah Hospital affects the quality of life of every Gunnedah resident and it is critical these clinical services reflect the needs of our unique regional community."

Susan Heyman Executive Director of Rural and Regional Health Services told ACM the CPS is currently with the NSW Ministry of Health for consideration and approval.

"The Clinical Services Plan identifies the range and type of clinical services (e.g. medical, surgical, maternity, obstetrics) which are intended to be included in a redevelopment," Ms Heyman said.

"The district undertook more than 20 consultation sessions comprising of community groups, staff members and clinicians as part of the process to create the Clinical Services Plan for Gunnedah.

"This included meetings with the local MP Kevin Anderson, mayor Jamie Chaffey and community groups such as the Local Health Committee in February and October 2020.

"General Practice consultation was also undertaken."

Ms Heyman said once the plan was endorsed by the ministry, more detailed planning will begin for the redevelopment project, at which time there will be "opportunities for staff, clinicians and community to have input on shaping the redevelopment in future stages of the redevelopment process".

"Approximately one third of the record health infrastructure spend in the 2020-21 NSW budget will go to regional and rural areas, with more than $900 million allocated for new and upgraded regional hospitals and health facilities," she said.

In March 2019 the redevelopment of Gunnedah Hospital was announced with an estimated total cost of $53 million.