Maitland Hospital Privatisation debate in Parliament
15-Sep-2017 Tweet
Yesterday afternoon, Jenny Aitchinson MP debated the privatisation of Maitland Hospital in Parliament before the Hon. NSW Minister for Health Brad Hazzard. Almost 20,000 members of the community signed the petition rejecting the government’s proposal to privatise Maitland Hospital.
This was the first debate, triggered by the initial 10,000 signatures gained.
Community members heard directly from the Leader of the Opposition Party, Luke Foley, who committed to bringing Maitland back into public hands, and making Health a key issue throughout the election.
Executive Director of ASMOF, Andrew Holland, noted that the fight is far from over. “Our members, the Doctors, are committed to ensuring our Public Health System remains the envy of the world”.
“Privatising these hospitals will put the training and supervision of our Junior Doctors at risk.”, he said.
Speaking on behalf of the senior doctors, he noted, “It will also see a private operator seek to reduce the services provided by our senior doctors, that are essential to the community. We have already seen this happen in other not-for-profit organisations in this state. These services include, research, quality improvement, training and education, and community engagement.”
It is expected a second debate, from the additional 10,000 signatures to be gained from the community will be held in the future shortly.
