Dr Albert Liebenberg, in an article submitted to the Pastoral Times (full version on page 4), claims there has been misinformation from council.
He says: “I believe it (the misinformation) is a deflection from their lack of accountability, due diligence and governance”.
“My concern is whether a decision affecting the healthcare of approximately 4000 patients was made with the level of due diligence, consultation and transparency required,” he said.
Dr Liebenberg said until now he had remained silent “because I believed my concerns should first be raised with council”.
However, he said despite his attempts he had been unable to get a meeting with Mayor Ashley Hall or CEO Jack Bond.
He also said: “Lourene Liebenberg and I recently wrote to every councillor asking three simple questions:
• Were councillors provided with sufficient documented information before they voted?
• Were the assumptions underpinning the proposed transition independently verified?
• Are councillors satisfied the process demonstrated the level of governance, transparency and due diligence the community is entitled to expect.
“To date, those questions remain unanswered,” Dr Liebenberg said.
Dr Liebenberg said he believed council’s actions “when viewed by any similar rural towns in Australia, will make them the laughing stock of small rural councils”.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Edward River Council responded to questions around why the decision was made now rather than at the end of the lease, saying it “understands gwhy some members of the community are asking this question”.
Council said “the decision followed approximately seven months of discussions between council and Ochre Health regarding the future delivery of healthcare services from the Deniliquin Medical Centre”.
It said that during this period, “council worked collaboratively with Ochre Health and remained hopeful that a pathway could be identified to address ongoing concerns regarding service capacity and utilisation of the facility”.
Council said it “recognises the broader workforce challenges being experienced across rural and regional healthcare and genuinely wanted to support Ochre Health to overcome those challenges”.
“Throughout the process, council was not seeking perfection; however, it did require confidence that there was a realistic and achievable plan to progressively utilise the Medical Centre closer to its intended capacity and better meet the healthcare needs of the community”.
Despite what it described as “extensive discussions and ongoing engagement”, council said it “ultimately concluded that the level of assurance it required regarding future service delivery was not forthcoming”.
Councillors were then faced with what council described as a difficult choice: “continue with the existing arrangements until October 2027 and hope circumstances improved; or take steps to identify an alternative pathway aimed at improving healthcare outcomes for the community”.
“Any future decision regarding the lease would likely require the same considerations and assessment process.
“Rather than delay what could ultimately have been the same outcome, council determined it was in the community’s best interests to make a decision now and begin exploring new opportunities for the Medical Centre.
“Delaying action for a further 15 months would not have been in the long-term interests of the community,” it said.
It said the decision was therefore made to “commence a managed transition process now, while working cooperatively with Ochre Health to minimise disruption to patients, practitioners, staff and healthcare services”.
Council said it “appreciates that reasonable people may hold different views about that decision”.
However, it maintains the decision “was made after lengthy consideration and with the primary objective of securing the strongest possible long-term healthcare outcomes for the Edward River community”.
In response to speculation that an alternative provider had already been lined up, council said it had no agreement in place at the time of the decision and has not appointed a replacement operator.
“Discussions have occurred with a range of stakeholders regarding potential future healthcare arrangements.
“However, no commitments have been made and no provider has been selected.”
It said the Expression of Interest process now underway is intended to identify “suitably qualified and capable providers” through an open process.
Council also addressed questions about communication with local doctors, following its earlier acknowledgement that no discussions had occurred with Ochre Health’s clinicians before the initial media release announcing the termination.
It said its representatives have since communicated “with a range of healthcare stakeholders, including medical practitioners and others involved in local healthcare delivery”.
Council reiterated its commitment to working constructively with doctors, nurses, allied health practitioners and support staff as future arrangements are considered.
Clarification was also provided regarding Ochre Health’s statement that it would continue working collaboratively with council until October 1.
Council offered to support Ochre Health to transition to an alternate Deniliquin-based facility as part of the transition process.
“We were willing to assist with identifying other options which may have better suited the organisation’s actual service delivery capacity.
“However, Ochre Health declined that offer and we respect their decision,” council said.
