LGH APPEAL CONCERT

The Appeal Concert with Jon and Col in Launceston's City Park Sunday December 2 was an opportunity for the LGH Support Group to bring Launcestonians and others up to speed in regard to how things stand at the LGH.

Launceston’s Mayor, Albert Van Zetten, Deputy Mayor Rosemary Armitage and the LGH’d Director of Surgery Berni Einoder plus other senior doctors were in attendance.

The hospital’s director of surgery, Berni Einoder, made some salient points.

Firstly he said that the hospital not running over budget, rather it was underfunded.

He also made it clear that the clinicians at LGH did not want to see the hospital downgraded in the way the Health Department’s bureaucracy seemed to be proposing it should be.

Professor Einoder put the recent nursing staff upgrade in perspective. He said that the 29 nurses the government had agreed to fund immediately really meant 11 new nurses as this funding included for 18 nurses who were already at LGH on various short-term contracts.

He also said that immediately actual translates to approximately six weeks in bureaucratic terms.

Professor Einoder said that Launceston General Hospital’s real needs are:
• 56 additional nurses;
• A $50 million cash injection: plus
• A budget increase.
He said that, "We need a minimum of 56 nurses to get back to square one". He also said a $50-$60 million cash injection was needed to "fix things up" and after that there needs to be a realistic annual budget.

Professor Einoder said that "fixing up" included the appointment of more staff, the purchasing of more equipment plus the repairing of equipment and systems that had been run down over the years of underfunding.

Launceston’s Mayor, Ald. Van Zetten reported that he and Council’s General Manager Frank Dixon would be meeting with Premier Paul Lennon about LGH issues this week. He said he intended to outline community concerns and "hear their (the government’s) side of the story". "We do not want to see downgrading at the hospital," he said.

The LGH Support Group Chairman, Ald. Armitage, thanked Jon and Col for their sponsorship of the Appeal Concert and their help in sending the message that the community wants its hospital to be properly funded and adequately staffed.