Media Release.
Shadow Minister for Health Jo-Ann
Miller says Sunshine Coast residents never voted for the LNP to Americanise
their regional public health system by privatising the new Sunshine Coast
University Hospital.
“The former Labor government initiated
this $1.8 billion hospital as a public hospital while the LNP sees a chance to
flog it off in whole or part so private conglomerates can put profits before
patients,” Mrs Miller said.
At a meeting with the Kawana community
coalition to save the hospital, Mrs Miller said the Minister for Health Cuts and
Closures Lawrence Springborg should personally explain to the Sunshine Coast
community his plans to privatise the hospital.
“The proposal for the
privatisation of the Sunshine Coast University Hospital was not foreshadowed by
the LNP Government before the election and was not part of Premier Campbell
Newman's contract with voters of the Sunshine Coast region,” Mrs Miller said.
“It is a huge broken
promise, but as we have seen, the LNP specialises in breaking election promises
by also sacking nurses and other frontline staff and cutting frontline health
services.
“The Sunshine Coast community is overwhelmingly opposed to the privatisation and wish the hospital to remain a public hospital to ensure job security, fair work conditions safe, quality health care and excellence in training our future health workforce.
“I am sponsoring a petition
against the privatisation of the Sunshine Coast University Hospital and I urge
all concerned members of the community to sign the petition which will be
presented to Queensland Parliament,” she said.
Mrs Miller said the
privatisation of the SCUH was only the beginning of the Americanisation of the
Queensland health system under the ruthless and callous LNP
Government.
“This is yet another move by Mr
Springborg to privatise hospital services across the state jeopardising
Queenslanders free universal access to hospital treatment,” she said.
“Along with privatising the
new Sunshine Coast University Hospital Mr Springborg has also flagged Blackwater
and Springsure Hospitals in Central Queensland for privatisation and Eidsvold
and Moura in-patient services to be outsourced.
“This signals the first step along the
path towards a US-style health system where profit is put ahead of patients and
health care is priced out of the reach of vast numbers of people.
“The Minister also needs to tell
Sunshine Coast doctors, nurses and other Queensland Health employees working for
the local hospital and health service whether they will be forced to work for a
private company at lower salaries and less job security.
“This inevitably means more job cuts
and more frontline service cuts and the potential wind-back of hours within
which outpatient services are offered.
“We saw just a couple of days ago Mr
Springborg announce the axing of 234 jobs at Cairns Base Hospital, this is on
top of mass sackings across Queensland Health last year.
“Mr Springborg is ripping the heart
out of Queensland Health across the state.”
Mrs Miller said the former government
made provision for a private hospital to be collocated at the SCUH site but the
LNP planned to go much further by selling off the public hospital to a private,
profit-focussed company.
Sign the petition to save the Sunshine
Coast University Hospital
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