Canterbury Hospital: action groups, MPs call for major upgrade to services
It is the Sydney hospital that see a new patient every 12 minutes, but it hasn’t seen a major redevelopment since the late 1990s. SEE WHY LOCAL ACTION GROUPS WANT AN OVERHAUL HERE.
The Express
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Clinicians, actions groups and local MPs are calling for the NSW Government to commit to funding a major overhaul of Canterbury Hospital — which hasn’t seen a redevelopment of its facilities since the late 1990s.
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Canterbury state Labor MP Sophie Cotsis and Lakemba state Labor MP Jihad Dib joined clinical staff and local hospital action groups to call for NSW Health to upgrade ageing facilities at the busy hospital, which services a growing community of more than 220,000 people.
Ms Cotsis told NewsLocal Canterbury Hospital required an urgent redevelopment to “provide our community with a world-class facility which will meet future needs”.
“Our community wants Canterbury Hospital to be upgraded so that people can access high-quality healthcare without having to travel long-distances,” she said. “We have one of the most culturally diverse communities in NSW, and staff at Canterbury Hospital have developed expertise providing healthcare while respecting language barriers and different cultural traditions.”
Mr Dib said Canterbury Hospital needed to be upgraded so that staff can provide healthcare in “modern, fit-for-purpose facilities”.
A strategic plan drafted for the future of the hospital lays out the need for a modern Emergency Department, upgraded operating theatres, a new renal dialysis service, expanded outpatient facilities and updated imaging and diagnostic services.
Campsie resident and hospital patient, Paul Reid said Canterbury just can’t handle the demand for services it receives from the community
“I was a patient there in November last year and although it was described as elective surgery, I was 11 months on a waitlist for a hip replacement,” he said.
“They don’t have enough beds to accommodate the growing population and what worries me is they are looking to build a new hospital at Bankstown and when that work starts there will be overflow to Canterbury.”
Mr Reid said the government needed to upgrade and expand facilities at the hospital.
“Inpatient and outpatient services are completely inadequate,” he said. “It just doesn’t stack up to services in other hospitals and something needs to change.”
Canterbury Bankstown Mayor, Khal Asfour wrote to NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet calling for the government to upgrade vital facilities at the hospital.
“At a time when our economy is crying out for major infrastructure projects, this hospital will deliver thousands of jobs across many sectors,” he said. “Canterbury Hospital was last upgraded in 1998 and there are many reasons to support a complete refurbishment (including) an increase in population, the strain on the hospital system in NSW and the number of people presenting to Canterbury Hospital with chronic illnesses are higher relative to the rest of NSW.”
A Sydney Local Health District spokeswoman said Canterbury Hospital was “an important part of the network of health services”.
“Currently, the emergency department is undergoing a $6.5 million expansion, with work
expected to be finished this year,” the spokeswoman said.
“The hospital treats about 22,000 inpatients a year, and more than 98,000 outpatients. Its
emergency department sees about 45,000 presentations annually or about one person
every 12 minutes.”
The spokeswoman said the Local Health District was in the process of investigating expansion of Canterbury’s outpatient capacity, “through the creation of additional clinics close to the hospital”.
“Canterbury Hospital is really valued by its local community, which is one of the most
diverse in the country,” Sydney Local Health District Chief Executive Dr Teresa Anderson
said. “That’s why we are expanding both our emergency department and our ability to treat
outpatients in appropriate clinics.”