Country Labor candidate for Dubbo Stephen Lawrence has attacked Dubbo MP Troy Grant over what he calls "an extreme blow-out" that has left Dubbo Hospital with the worst waiting times for elective surgery in Australia.
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Mr Lawrence said he couldn't imagine hospital benchmarks being able to slip so badly under previous representatives for Dubbo, including former independent MP Dawn Fardell.
"There has been a scandalous blow out in waiting lists at Dubbo Hospital and I am very confident in saying that if Dawn Fardell was still the MP we wouldn't have seen this blow out and if we had, we would have heard about it," Mr Lawrence said.
He was joined by deputy opposition leader Linda Burney in front of Dubbo Hospital yesterday, where they claimed the current waiting times are unacceptable.
"Dubbo Hospital already has the nation's longest elective surgery waiting times. Waits of 351 days for a hip replacement or 348 days for a knee are unacceptable. It shouldn't take 329 days to get cataracts removed," Mr Burney said.
Mr Lawrence said there have been increases in all urgent, semi-urgent and non-urgent waiting times at Dubbo since the coalition came to power.
Labor argued the drops are the result of a $3 billion cut to health, a claim Mr Grant and the government has disputed. Mr Grant said there was a 5 per cent increase in health spending last year.
"When Troy Grant says it rose by 5 per cent last year and therefore there have been no "cuts", it shows he doesn't understand health budget policy," Mr Lawrence said.
"Authoritative bodies like the AMA [Australian Medical Association] will tell you it needs to rise by at least 7 per cent annually to maintain current levels of care."
Mr Grant refuted Mr Lawrence's claims and said Labor had never delivered on the promise of upgrades to Dubbo Hospital during their time in power.
"Regional healthcare is thriving under the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government, including the $91 million redevelopment of the Dubbo Hospital," Mr Grant said.
"This upgrade will ensure the hospital meets the needs of our community, with new operating theatres and surgical wards increasing the capacity of the facility.
"Labor's understanding of the health system is elementary. It is time they learned that urgency categories for surgery are determined by doctors not politicians."
