NSW to reposition rural services to obtain Federal funding

The New South Wales (NSW) government plans to rearrange rural services to obtain more Federal funding, according to an analysis by Louise Hall in the Sydney Morning Herald of the recent NSW budget.

She has reported that the NSW Department of Health will continue its strategy to keep people out of public hospitals and move health services into community-based settings, such as one-stop superclinic-style centres as the population grows and ages.

Private patients will be encouraged to use public hospitals and pay fees to increase revenues, and more small rural and regional hospitals will be re-positioned into multi-purpose service facilities to access Federal aged care subsidies.

The government says many of these hospitals had effectively become nursing homes, yet received no Commonwealth aged funding, and has promised $20.7 million for Balranald, Eugowra, Merriwa, Coonamble and Manilla.

Other key budget announcements include an extra $10 million for community-based mental health programs and telephone helplines, $11.9 million for post-acute care in the community for 7,900 patients, an extra 69 medical assessment unit beds to keep the elderly and chronically ill out of emergency departments and $14.4 million for the establishment of a Child Wellbeing Unit to manage at-risk children who do not meet the new thresholds for Department of Community Services intervention.

Primary health care services will be consolidated in superclinic-style centres called HealthOnes, primarily in rural areas including Blayney, Cootamundra, Corowa, Quirindi, Raymond Terrace and Gulgong at a cost of $12.6 million.