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This review was undertaken in late 2009 to implement one of the Garling report’s recommendations. 21 hospitals in our area health service have been reviewed. Bellingen’s Medical Staff Council took a very close look at the NCAHS report about Bellingen and pointed out some very severe errors which potentially could mislead the Minister in any decision about Bellingen Hospital and lead to further downgrading of our services. Please read below excerpts of a letter written By Jaki Lockyer on behalf of BHAG to NSW Minister for Health, Carmel Tebbutt, dated 16th Dec 2009: “The errors in calculations presented by the North Coast Area Health Service (NCAHS) office of Population Health Planning and Performance included errors in population, postcode and age demographics; Average Length of Stay calculations; mileage errors; incorrect reports on Palliative Care, Psychiatric and Aboriginal services numbers; incorrect statistics on transfusions and colonoscopies; ignorance of the absence of Community Care supports such as CAPAC, Hospital In the Home, TAC; lack of reference to Nursing Home availability, and no recognition of Bellingen as a Crisis Town in that it becomes frequently and increasingly isolated due to flooding, or road closures on its one road in and out of town. Significantly, the officers of Population Health Planning and Performance seemed unaware of Bellingen Hospital’s role as a ‘step-down’ hospital, which regularly receives out-of-area long stay patients from Coffs Harbour Hospital for local staff to rehabilitate, restore to health and plan discharge back into their own distant community. This has a significant implication for Coffs Harbour Hospital regarding the planning of any service reduction in Bellingen – particularly in allocation of acute care beds. In the report compiled by Dr Deirdre Little in her presentation of corrected data during the consultation on 8th December 09, she found the scope of NCAHS errors of alarming statistical significance. The probability of all these being random errors was calculated to be of the order of 1 : 2 million. If we extrapolate this calculation, the NCAHS has, in a probability of 2 million : 1, an intention to statistically support the closure or drastic reduction services available at Bellingen Hospital, regardless of statistical facts. At the very least, any recommendation to you based on these wildly inaccurate figures would be a case of “misleading the Minister”. Nor does it appear that Risk Assessments have been undertaken in consideration of service reduction or closure. Given that no-one is privy to the Clinical Task Force’s criteria for determination, this is not something we know, but conclude to be so as Bellingen’s medical professionals would, for the sake of accurate data, have to be consulted in any assessment of any given local risk scenarios.”
Minister's Response - 28 April 2010
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