Securing the Future and of the shire

Weddin Shire Council

Background

The Weddin Shire Council is committed to maintaining a vibrant Weddin Shire community. To do this, Council needs to

continue to provide services that meet the needs of our villages and towns.

The Weddin Shire centred on the township of Grenfell has recently suffered a health crisis with only one doctor serving

some 3,500 – 4,000 people after the exit of a GP from the town. Like many other rural localities it has struggled to attract

and retain health practitioners. Currently on a per capita basis the Weddin Shire remains below the standard doctor to

population ratios. The regional effect is to create greater demand on scarce resources in the regional centres such as Or-

ange. This regional impact is also illustrated by the fact that the medical centre in Grenfell has been identified as being

the highest priority for community infrastructure in the Central West Region.

Patients currently have to seek health services in surrounding towns and cities however shire residents are struggling to

access health services in these surrounding towns with GP’s in those centres closing their books. With no access to public

transport the necessity to travel to access services adds to the living cost of low skilled and disadvantaged residents and

results in economic leakage in a rural community that can ill afford it.

The provision of sustainable health services is vital to maintaining the Weddin Shire economy as the ongoing attraction

and retention of GPs is fundamental to retaining population and labour to support local industry.

Failure to address health amenity threatens the very future of the community, potentially increasing social dislocation

in the district and jeopardises the economic contribution it makes to the region, to NSW and to the Commonwealth.

There is a failure of private sector forces to provide rural communities with the medical services they need. The reality is

our rural communities, who are our least resourced, are having to spend millions on medical centres, houses and cars in

order to attract GP’s and other health services. We see rural communities competing with each other to attract health

practitioners and local government dealing with non-core service provision demands at a time when they are under pres-

sure to become more efficient and cut costs.

This is evident in Grenfell with the Council owning and providing at a subsidised cost two GP surgeries and residences.

The two existing GP surgeries in Grenfell (owned and maintained by the Weddin Shire Council) are inefficient, with the

existing buildings and ancillary services underperforming. The cost to remedy deficiencies in the buildings in order to im-

prove service provision is uneconomical and would fail to resolve essential service delivery outcomes. This contributes to

fewer ancillary services, poor access and makes the retention of doctors burdened with high client ratios difficult.

Importantly a modern facility will overcome the problems of existing surgeries that have poor access, are ageing, have

leaking roofs and on some days have patients waiting on the open veranda for a consultation. The poor state of existing

facilities was significant in previously not being able to recruit a second GP for 2.5 years and to operating without a vis-

iting medical officer (VMO) for 1.5 years.

A modern facility will be a game changer in attracting and retaining General Practitioners (GP/s) and facilitating the de-

livery of health services to the residents of the Weddin Shire.

Central NSW Councils (CENTROC) have spent the past two years identifying priority infrastructure. Using criteria from

State and Federal funding programs the region have developed a Matrix that ranks infrastructure from roads through to

community facilities. The medical centre in Grenfell has been identified as the first priority for community infrastructure

in the Central West.

GRENFELL MEDICAL CENTRE / HEALTH HUB FACT SHEET

Grenfell Medical Centre Project Explained

The Project is for the construction of a Medical Centre / Health Hub in Grenfell

to deliver health services to the residents of the Weddin Shire and its surrounds.

It includes the construction of a fit for purpose building including six consulting rooms, minor operations room, practice

manager room, practice nurse room, medical meeting rooms, reception area, kitchen, ambulance bay, storage facilities,

office spaces and a dental services wing with 2 consultation spaces.

The facility will ensure the attraction and retention of ongoing medical services identified as critical to sustaining Grenfell

community.

In line with community expectations, the Medical Centre will be of a high standard and designed to serve the community

into the future. It will incorporate e-Health capacity with excellent digital integration facilitating collaboration and con-

nectivity between the Health Hub, Grenfell hospital and the Orange health service (hospital) as well as outlying farms and

properties with the potential for remote service delivery options to other regions. Increased digital connectivity means the

possibility of adoption of in home support and other innovative service delivery options driving efficiency in overcoming

the barriers faced by remote rural communities.

It is proposed that the facility will also include links with university medical and health science faculties training and educa-

tion programmes and by so doing have a positive impact on the availability of health services not only within the Weddin

Shire but also rural communities in other regions.

The project is shovel ready…

The Grenfell Medical Centre / Health Hub is a project developed by Weddin Shire Council after extensive community & professional consultation and cost benefit analysis

The Weddin Shire Council is planning strategically for the future of community health care in isolated rural settings with ageing populations

The Grenfell Medical Centre / Health Hub will facilitate an e-Health delivery model as an innovative response to the economic disadvantage faced by the Shire population

What will the Grenfell Medical Centre look to deliver?

A sustainable model of health service delivery that will enable the Council to attract and retain General

Practitioners (GP’s), nursing and allied services into the future

A model that facilitates collaboration between the various health services/stakeholders fostering an inte-

gration of health service delivery to achieve better health outcomes for residents of the Weddin Shire

Community engagement that facilitates preventative health, early intervention and health education as

a community leader promoting better health outcomes

Provision for training and capacity building opportunities to develop the skills of the health services

workforce within the Weddin Shire as a model that can provide leadership to regional facilities in other

regions.

Innovative use of technology, including eHealth, to support the delivery of health services across aged

care, local publicly funded health services and the range of outreach services across the Weddin Shire.

Accountability for and monitoring of performance and a regular reporting program to ensure achieve-

ment of the desired outcomes and patient satisfaction.

Application of innovative options that can deliver exceptional and flexible health services and have a ca-

pacity to respond to changing health delivery options.

Seek opportunities to link eHealth and digital services to broader economic development opportunities

within the community.