On election day 2022 the Sydney Morning herald has put a spotlight on the failure of the government to deliver its 2019 promise of a radiotherapy facility to service South East NSW. In an SMH article : Cancer patients still waiting on treatment centres promised at last election
Dana Daniel says: "Health Minister Greg Hunt, who said in 2019 that too many regional Australians could not access treatment “because they live too far from their nearest radiation therapy centre”, declined to answer questions emailed by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age about the shelved centres.
Federal Labor has promised $8 million to deliver the promised radiotherapy centre at Eurobodalla Hospital near Bega, a pledge NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard called “completely ignorant ... or completely misleading” because the local state health service was not on board. Opposition health spokesman Mark Butler declined to comment." The federal government promised $63 million during the 2019 election campaign for radiotherapy centres in 13 locations across regional Australia, described at the time as “a significant win for local cancer patients”. But many of the projects have not progressed. The summary of findings from the NSW inquiry into rural, regional and remote health findings found that the rural health system is in crisis and is failing residents of rural, regional and remote New South Wales.
That the NSW and Australian Governments:
• have had a long standing awareness of the challenges presented by their shared responsibility in health care delivery
• have failed to work together to overcome these challenges in a timely and effective manner to achieve the reform necessary to address doctor workforce issues in rural, regional and remote New South Wales.
That the health bureaucracy for rural, regional and remote areas of New South Wales is in need of significant overhaul.
Following the announcement of a $8 million commit by Labor to the South East facility Federal Health Minister, Greg Hunt commented:
Above: It appears Minister Hunt is being fed BS by his State counterparts.
Above: a message to Greg Hunt and Brad Hazzard
