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    West Wimmera Health Service chief executive Ritchie Dodds.

New medical services in west means Wimmera can survive 'under its own steam'

By DEAN LAWSON

New medical services at Nhill have provided Member for Lowan Emma Kealy with fuel for her stand against a proposed merger between Wimmera and Ballarat health services.

Ms Kealy said a West Wimmera Health Service announcement that a surgeon and psychiatrist would soon be visiting and providing regular services from Nhill Hospital showed what was possible.

“While this far from indicates that we don’t have all sorts of health-service-access issues across the Wimmera-Mallee, it does provide a glimpse that where there’s a will there’s a way,” she said.



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“It tells us we don’t have to lose our local voice and-or autonomy.

“The answers are there, we just need the State Government to admit the system it has been overseeing is not only inadequate, but can be resolved with a little bit of attention that avoids regressive centralisation.”

While supportive of essential partnership arrangements between public health services, Ms Kealy said she remained vehemently opposed to a formal voluntary merger between Wimmera Health Care Group and Ballarat Health Services.

She said the argument had reached an inevitable stage where community rumour and innuendo surrounding the motives for merger had become rife.

“This is obscuring objective debate. The government must immediately look into this so it can, if appropriate, nip it in the bud. It also must declare its position,” she said.

“I stress again, amalgamation between Wimmera and Ballarat health groups will not address fundamental issues based on workforce, funding and infrastructure investment.”

West Wimmera

West Wimmera Health Service announced its new medical services, which followed up the confirmation of a new general practitioner starting in Nhill, last week.

Ballarat-based surgeon Ahmed Naqeeb will soon start visiting Nhill Hospital to provide general surgery and psychiatrist Dr Hieu Pham is also looking to start regular visits to Nhill.

Health service chief executive Ritchie Dodds said confirmation of Mr Naqeeb’s services represented ‘big relief’.

“We haven’t been able to provide this type of service locally for some time,” he said.

“It will make a real difference to our communities in terms of time saved and avoiding the general inconvenience of travelling out of the area.

“I can personally attest that the last thing you want to have to do or think about before and after a colonoscopy is travel and accommodation.”

Mr Dodds said Dr Pham’s regular visits, as well as medical services, would provide education opportunities for health-service staff and general practitioners in the region.

Dr Pham’s areas of expertise include addiction, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, depression, dementia, mindfulness, post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia. 

“Mental health is one of the numerous health issues that are generally significantly more challenging for rural communities,” Mr Dodds said.

“This service, plus the training Dr Pham intends to provide to our staff around caring for people with mental-health issues, will be invaluable for all concerned.”

The moves coincide with Rural Doctors contracting a new general practitioner to consult from its Nhill medical clinic.

Dr Ning Wang has moved from Mildura and his appointment brings the number of Nhill-based general practitioners back up to four.

“We’re very grateful for the quality of care and general reliability Rural Doctors has brought to our communities. They’re a joy to work with,” Mr Dodds said.

 

RELATED: Stawell Regional Health – ‘We can’t do it alone’

The entire March 3, 2021 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!