CHAIR of the Bega Hospital medical staff council, Dr Gabe Khouri, has made public information he believes critical to the ongoing health service debate in the Bega Valley.
As far as obstetric services were concerned, Dr Khouri said in the face of a massive state funding shortfall, taxpayers sho-uld not be asked to fund duplicate services which could not be adequately staffed or continuously provided, rather than support a single site sustainable service.
“Given that it costs over $70,000 per year to have a doctor simply on call for caesarean sections at Pambula without doing a single case, in addition to payment for any services provided, then locums are not all that expensive in the short term,” he said.
“Locums are paid a flat rate no matter how much work they have to do during any 24-hour period.
“Then there is also the $50,000 a year to have another GP obstetrician on call for deliveries, in addition to the caesarean section doctor, and another $70,000 for an anaesthetist on call for caesarean sections.
“All this is far more than what locums will be costing for the remainder of the year.
“In other words the money used simply for having the GPs on call at Pambula for things obstetric for a year without any service being actually provided, will pay for a locum for four months continuously, with no additional cost for any service provided in that time by the locum.”
On another matter, Dr Khouri said earlier this month he met with one of the GP obstetricians from Pambula Hospital and asked if that doctor was willing to assist in providing obstetric cover at Bega, as there were difficulties at that time with locum recruitment.
“I did this as I was determined to do whatever possible to help ensure a continuous obstetric service to the community, irrespective of any political mileage any Pambula doctors would attempt to get from the request,” he said.
“The doctor categorically refused and without it being openly stated, I was left in no doubt that the agenda of the Pambula hospital GP obstetricians was to allow the service to fall apart to gain more political leverage.”
Dr Khouri also spoke about the tactics of the NSW Rural Doctors’ Association (RDA).
He said the RDA has not publicly acknowledged the position of other members of the association such as himself or Dr John Marsh-man.
“Both of us have spoken with (former acting president RDA) Ian Kammerman, and the RDA will not publicly acknowledge that the majority of doctors in the area support a single sustainable service.
“I believe that, like any union, they are understandably fighting to safeguard the financial interests of their membership, but will not publicly declare this component of their stance in case it reflects unflatteringly on their self-proclaimed position as guardians of the public good.”
Dr Khouri said that “public interest” was a convenient argument that many doctors have used for years to camouflage the underlying economic self–interest.
He went on to say the RDA had a representative on the Obstetric Review committee that recommended the single site for maternity services in the Bega Valley.
“That doctor is a rural GP Obstetrician and well respected member of the RDA,” he said.
“If he had any major disagreement as to the findings of the committee of which he was a member he would have had the right to express his opinion in the findings summary.
“He made no statement disagreeing with any of the committees findings.”
Dr Khouri said it appeared to him “the RDA only trumpets the opinions of members who tow the RDA line”.
“As a member of the RDA I find their entire handling of this issue disgusting,” he said.
“Referring to locums as ‘fly-by-nighters’ is an offence to every locum in the country, including those doctors who provide locum services to the RDA’s members in rural areas - what hypocrisy.”
Dr Khouri said that Dr Kammerman also stated recently that a patient who had waited four weeks for an appointment would have to wait another four weeks if their doctor was called away to a delivery in Bega.
“This is a farcical statement,” he said.
“I would ask whether Dr Kammerman runs his practice in this way.
“If he is called away to an emergency of any sort which might result in an absence of several hours does he make those patients wait another four weeks to see him?
“If so he deserves a practice with no patients.
“Such grubby scare-mongering is indefensible.”
As far as current staffing was concerned, Dr Khouri said the Bega Hospital now had obstetric and obstetrician cover until Christmas.
Dr Khouri also said the minister was to be congratulated for his political integrity and for not succumbing to “what I can only describe as medical terrorism”.
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