Discontent at Orange hospital continues
DOCTOR Robin Williams, the Western NSW Local District Board, Mr Jane on behalf of the Orange Health Council, and the executive of Orange Health Service and Local Health District have circled their wagons to protect their position and isolate their victim from support, under the guise of confidentiality.
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Their suggestion that the standing down of a senior cardiologist of exceptional ability and dedication is in the interest of patient safety is not credible.
No complaint has come from a patient.
The people of the central west have been deprived of the services of this experienced cardiologist for five weeks already, while his remaining colleagues struggle under the extra workload in the deplorable atmosphere cultivated by administration.
I have been a GP in Orange for 28 years and was once a VMO at the base hospital.
I no longer work at the hospital, but have many contacts and receive feedback from my patients.
For more than three years, the working environment at the hospital has deteriorated, with friction in nearly all hospital departments.
The public are interested and I believe have a right to know what has been going on.
Many hospital staff are fearful to speak out. People ask how has it come to this?
Why has it taken so long for the public to be involved? Many are disbelieving.
Repeated failure of management to follow due process is forcing some to lift their heads from the sand.
I know not all Orange doctors support the protest and the call for a full investigation of administration, but a significant number now owe their appointment or promotion to the current executive.
Others still feel that fair process will prevail. I do not share their confidence.
Based on the “processes” of the past three years and their stonewalling against the vast majority of OHS doctors who voted for the immediate reinstatement of the cardiologist two weeks ago, I think we can expect more of the same.
The hospital executive has the power to make appointments, or not, and to renew appointments, or not.
The executive controls the timing and agenda of meetings. Staff can be stood down for weeks without details of the reason.
The cost of legal advice in any dispute with management is a major disincentive for staff to exercise their rights.
The wounds in Orange Health Service will take a long time to heal but the Department of Health must administer the medicine before healing can begin, or will they too defend the indefensible?
The medicine required is replacement of the current administration.
Management must care for and respect their staff so their staff can care for the people of the Central West.
Doctor Peter Holmes
Lincoln’s wise words translate well
I RECALL using this Abraham Lincoln quote some time ago, but I'm sure that it's worth repeating.
"If slavery isn't wrong, then nothing is wrong."
If we substitute "our treatment of genuine refugees" for "slavery", I believe that many residents would agree with the whole statement.
There's not the slightest doubt in my mind that future generations will have great difficulty in trying to understand how a wealthy country like Australia could implement its current refugee policy.
No one is suggesting that we open our borders and take in tens of thousands of refugees, as was the case in Europe.
It's worth nothing that we paid Cambodia $55 million to take a single refugee from our offshore detention camp at Nauru. Just one out of five decided to remain there.
