United Voice News
Community says NO to privatising Fiona Stanley Hospital
More than 100 people from the communities surrounding Fiona Stanley Hospital attended a public meeting to express their concern about the state government’s plans to privatise essential services at the new flagship hospital.
The meeting, at South Lakes Leisure Centre, heard from health workers who experienced the previous round of privatisation in the 1990s.
Ross Innes-Mills, a patient care assistant at Royal Perth Hospital said: “I was an orderly at RPH in the 1990s when cleaning was privatised. We started to notice the blood spots on the curtains in ICU were not being cleaned, so we started to date them.
"Six months later they were still there because the contractor was cutting corners. When cleaning is in-house, those curtains are changed every week.”
Shadow Health Minister Roger Cook also addressed the meeting and said: “Fiona Stanley Hospital was supposed to be a flagship hospital for WA, instead the state government is trying to do it on the cheap, with second hand equipment and essentials services run by private companies.”
The premier Colin Barnett and his health minister Kim Hames both declined to attend, as did local Liberal MPs Joe Francis, Peter Abetz and Mike Nahan.
Members of the public who attended the forum expressed concern about private companies going bust once they had the contract. The fact is, they will be so embedded in the hospital that the government will be forced to bail them out.
Dave Kelly, secretary of the LHMU, said: “The attendance demonstrates that people are concerned about this.
"Colin Barnett is denying that his government is privatising Fiona Stanley but this just isn’t true. They are privatising every service except doctors and nurses.
“Every function within a hospital is integrated, they work together to provide health care and education. Doctors, nurses, cleaners, admin – all work together to provide high standards of care.
“WA is a rich state, we can afford to provide quality hospitals and schools for our community.”
To find out more about our No Privatisation of Hospitals and Schools campaign, log on here: www.inpublichands.com.
