COMMENT: When it comes to running the Western Local Health District it is big business.
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As with any business that has to operate within the parameters of profit and loss, it is a constant struggle for the health district to come in under budget.
So late last year when it was revealed a multimillion dollar blowout was carried through to this financial year, health district management were left with no other option than to look closely at ways of reining in the budget.
Initial talk of job losses sent waves of unease throughout the district with unions taking a stance saying they would fight any job cuts.
However, the news from the WLHD this week that the net has been widely cast over all services, expanding the initial parameters of a review looking at modes of operation as well as appropriate staffing levels and the way the WLHD works with service providers, gives rise to optimism the massive exercise is not just about offering redundancies.
The WLHD, like all health districts throughout the state, is faced with the dilemma that the amount of health dollars provided through a combination of state and federal funding is just not stretching far enough.
The solutions are complex and at times a bitter pill to swallow when change is implemented. However, the WLHD maintains its stance that no front-line jobs will go.
It seems this review will provide the most comprehensive overview of WLHD operations at all levels.
As the review continues it is important the number crunchers keep foremost in their minds how much people of the central and far west treasure their health services, which in many cases they have fought hard to retain, in their quest for equality in healthcare with their city counterparts.