A supposedly "secret plan"

to cut the number of doctors, nurses, beds and some other services in our local health network was gleefully "revealed" by the news media yesterday.

Yes, there was a report which offered the plan as a way to reduce the high over-expenditure in the network. The report itself was not a "secret". Anyone could have accessed it under our "Freedom of Information" laws. It was not published for the simple reason that the government never had any intention of acting on the "recommendations" in it. The so called recommendations are not really even that. They were just put forward as one way things could be done.

No government was ever going to implement them. It would be electoral suicide.

So, why have they suddenly been given so much publicity? The answer to that is simple. There is an election coming up. The media does not like the present government. There are people working in the media who are strong supporters of the present opposition. They are using this, and other stories, in the sure and certain hope of influencing the undecided voters in the electorate.

The almost new "world class" hospital in the CBD is more like a luxury hotel. It is incredibly expensive to run. 

Why? There are no wards. Every patient has a private room with an ensuite. Yes, I know it sounds lovely. I am well aware that the last thing most people want in hospital is to be surrounded by other sick people, people they don't even know. The problem is that this takes even more staff than before. A friend recently had eleven nights there. For the first week she was too ill to get out of bed alone. She couldn't get to the ensuite, let alone use it. On the third or fourth day she had to wait more than two hours before anyone even looked in after she had rung for help. As she would be one of the least demanding of patients this really does say something about the way things are done there.

There is no kitchen in the hospital. Meals are brought in from outside. I have seen those meals. If I was a patient there I would hope Middle Cat was feeling well enough to bring me meals from home. There is no choice. You get what is delivered to you. People who cannot reach it on their overways or manage to undo the packaging just go hungry - and thirsty.

There are no facilities for the staff, not even lockers. They have to keep their personal belongings in the unit where they are working. 

There are other issues too, far too many to enumerate here. I don't know whether they have been raised as running costs. 

It was the present Opposition which built (at an enormous cost blow out) the present facilities - and signed off on them. It is the current government which has had to deal with the many issues. Naturally it is the current government which is also being blamed for the problems. This is the way politics works.

The problem with airing the report which suggested that one means of saving money would be to cut staff is that it was never going to happen. It isn't government policy. It is simply stirring and scare-mongering.

But we have an election coming up so apparently it is "fair and balanced" reporting.