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Oct 16, 2008 at 12:25 PM |
By EMMA GRODZICKI  Nepean Hospital Shop Assistant Volunteer, Christina Murdoch, President of Volunteers, Ray Dowse, Vice President and Coordinator of Volunteers, Dorothy Grant, and Secretary and Shop Coordinator, Vicki Webb.
Volunteers at Nepean Hospital have been reassured of their future, with the Sydney West Area Health Service (SWAHS) stating its Retail Strategy would offer accommodation for fundraising services.
Last week, NSW Opposition Leader, Barry O’Farrell, said the State Government was planning to axe volunteer run charity services at Nepean Hospital. With the SWAHS letting “approximately 40 square metres of retail space at Nepean Hospital”,
Mr O’Farrell said he feared Nepean would face the same fate as Mount Druitt Hospital, where a volunteer-run kiosk and gift shop that has raised $1 million over 26 years will potentially be closed to accommodate the ‘retail space’.
“The community would be upset the dedicated Nepean Hospital volunteers might suffer the same fate as those at Mt Druitt,” Mr O’Farrell said.
“These hospitals belong to the public, there’s no reason volunteers should be excluded from raising money for their local hospital.
“If this is all about raising more revenue, then the State Labor Government should level with the public about the true financial state of our health system.”
SWAHS Director of Finance and Budget, Peter Sindel, said the NSW Health Retail Strategy was developed in response to the challenges faced by governments and Area Health Services in meeting the financial demands of our rapidly ageing community, the costs of new technologies and an increase in chronic diseases.
Mr Sindel said the strategy recognised the invaluable role of volunteers and seeks to support them, while investigating how to respond to the challenges of providing excellence in health care for the wider community.
“SWAHS Retail Strategy forms part of the overall NSW Health state-wide retail strategy, which seeks to maximise the potential capital and recurrent investment to be achieved for re-investment into front-line clinical services,” Mr Sindel said.
“To maintain the community link with hospital volunteers, SWAHS has stipulated that where new building works are proposed, these would need to include the provision of suitable accommodation for volunteer fundraising services.
“Volunteers working at Nepean Hospital will continue their vital fundraising efforts within any new retail precinct at the hospital.”
As part of the Retail Strategy, SWAHS has sought and obtained expressions of interest from businesses, via a competitive process, to provide retail services at all of its hospitals. SWAHS is in the process of evaluating these expressions of interests and a recommendation is expected by the end of October.
Mr Sindel said previous investigations have revealed that SWAHS’ Retail Strategy could potentially raise millions of dollars for improved and expanded patient care.
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