Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson has expressed his disappointment that the 2023/24 NSW Budget has fallen short of giving the Gunnedah community confidence in the future of healthcare in the shire.

Mr Anderson said that earlier this year, the Labor Government had released plans for a downgraded Gunnedah Hospital, which was met with strong opposition from the community.

“The updated plans for the Gunnedah Hospital redevelopment simply do not meet community expectation, and I have been working hard since the release of those plans to convince the government to allocate further funding to the project,” Mr Anderson said.

“The original master plan for the hospital redevelopment is the design the community was consulted on throughout the process, and it is the design the community expects to be delivered.

“Unfortunately, this budget falls short of meeting our expectation, and we are no clearer to a final decision on the future of the Gunnedah Hospital.

“What we do know is that the government plans to spend $10.5 million on the hospital over the next 12 months.”

The NSW Budget lists the Gunnedah Hospital redevelopment, explaining that the government will, “Redevelop the Gunnedah Hospital to provide patient, families, and carers a modern healthcare facility. It will deliver a new acute services building that includes a new emergency department, maternity, birthing and inpatient unit.”

Mr Anderson said a glaring omission in the budget’s line item was mention of the renal and chemo services, as promised by the former Government, and as committed to by Labor in the lead-up to the 2023 election.

“This is a devastating decision to rip chemo and renal services away from the Gunnedah community. We need the details and we need them as soon as possible.”