In attendance was Greater Taree City Council (GTCC) mayor Paul Hogan, member for Myall Lakes Stephen Bromhead, Manning Health Committee member Sally Crawford, community member and advocate for local health issues Pattie Hogan, GTCC councillor and local GP Dr David Keegan, local businessman and GTCC councillor Alan Tickle, Lyn Mayo OAM who was part of a team that saw Taree receive its first community dialysis centre, Maria Rohr who after moving back to her home town Taree is “as passionate about the area as ever” and Allan Spriggs, a former engineer, originally from England, who came to the meeting due to interest in public patient access to the Mayo’s Cardiac Catheter Laboratory. 

Both GTCC councillors Alan Tickle and Dr David Keegan declared they were attending the meeting as community members and not councillors. 

The meeting was chaired by president of Manning Valley Business Chamber Jeremy Thornton. 

Mr Thornton outlined briefly the history of the chamber’s involvement with local health issues including its organisation of two public health forums in Forster and Taree during February of this year. 

“In the Manning Valley, $20 million for (the) stage one upgrade of Manning Hospital was committed by the Minister for Health Jillian Skinner and member for Myall Lakes Stephen Bromhead only days after the health forums,” said Mr Thornton. 

“The hospital itself is a feature of this community, but it is also important that this group forms opinions and consensus on all issues that impact health care locally,” Mr Thornton said. 

“This would include allied health, supply chain, support of the aged and disabled and another key topic, support for domestic violence.”

Sally Crawford, a member of the Manning Health Committee and a speaker at the chamber’s public health forums, supported the idea of the group advocating for a broad range of local health issues and added the need for increased local methamphetamine rehabilitation services. 

However, the meeting discussion stuck closely to Manning Hospital and issues surrounding the 2015 July 1 State Budget allocation of $1.35 million. 

Sally raised the issue of updating Manning Hospital’s clinical services plan, and the cost that would come with it. 

She said her fear was there would be more time and money needed to spend updating the plan, instead of getting something concrete. 

“They will have to use the money to re-do the plan, then wait for money, then the needs will change again. Will the money be wasted on another plan?” Sally said. 

Dr David Keegan explained the plan would not have to be re-done, just amended. 

Taree businessman Alan Tickle backed the idea of amending the plan but questioned the need for the plan. 

“How critical is a clinical services plan? Macksville didn’t have one before its funding and now it’s scrambling to put one together,” he added. 

Dr Keegan said that a clinical services plan was essential and “needs to be current.”

“It informs what is needed in the community,” he said. 

As conversation shifted away from the clinical services plan, it turned to the $1.35 million State budget allocation to Manning Hospital. 

“Am I dumb woman?” asked community member Lyn Mayo OAM. “Because I just can’t understand how others have received such large amounts and we just don’t get it. I’m dumbfounded.” 

Sally Crawford said she put the less than expected allocation of $1.35 million down to three things.

“One - we are not ticking boxes properly,” said Sally.

“Two - we are not carried strongly enough. And three - others’ needs are greater.”

Dr Keegan expressed his concerns in the small allocation for what is set to be a huge project on an already “constrained space”. 

He said for the project not to be filled with gross inefficiencies, five per cent of the total spend needed to be given up front to plan. 

“It’s like building a skyscraper one floor at a time,” he said. 

Dr Keegan said he believed the hospital is at “breaking point” and without around $5 to $7 million up front, they run the risk of poorly made plans and developments that have been “plonked” on top like previous updates. 

According to Dr Keegan without sufficient plans “... it will be fairly disjointed and lead to gross inefficiencies and a second class hospital.”

The meeting’s chairman Jeremy Thornton was happy with how the meeting went, and he believes a lot of constructive discussion took place.

The action from the meeting was to write a letter to the Minister for Health, Jillian Skinner, with Mr Bromhead’s support. Jeremy confirmed this week to the Manning River Times the letter has been drafted and was waiting to be signed off and sent. 

No date has been set for the next meeting of the committee.