FIFO MATERNITY FOR CARNARVON HAS BEEN LABELLED A BETRAYAL BY THE OPPOSITION

BY ASAD KHAN

Revelation that a Fly In Fly Out (FIFO) maternity workforce for Carnarvon is in active discussion has been labelled as a betrayal by the State Opposition Leader Shane Love.

Mr Love said the Cook Government has never prioritised regional health and the FIFO workforce for Carnarone is a band-aid solution following years of inaction and neglect.

He questioned why despite the promises made of an international recruitment campaign and the Health Minister’s visit to India, the initiatives have not been delivered

”This admission shows they have failed to improve staffing levels in the Gascoyne, despite having over two years to address the issue,” he said.

Martin Aldridge Shadow Minister for Regional Health said this is just another example of the Cook government’s failure.

“We need permanent residential workforces because maternity doesn't just start at Birth and is a whole range of services that need to be provided in the lead up to and after birth

“Having women leave their family and their region and their Community to give birth some hundreds if not thousands of kilometres away and 24 with the state budget surplus of 3.2 billion dollars is frankly not acceptable,” he said.

Mr Aldridge said he thinks this is a slippery slope where the government has effectively hoisted the white flag and said it's now too hard to attract health professionals to Carnarvon

Listen to Ngaarda Media’s Lead Journalist Asad Khan speak with Shadow Minister for Regional Health Martin Aldridge: