Labor matches government's hospital upgrade money, commits $10m more for robotic surgery
NSW Labor leader Michael Daley has one-upped the Liberals in the marginal seat of Kogarah, announcing it will not only upgrade St George Hospital but spend millions more on robotic surgery.
In the shadow of the “under-appreciated” St George Hospital on Monday, Mr Daley said a Labor government would match the government’s $385 million hospital upgrade commitment and spend another $10 million on robotic surgery.
Announcements about robotic precision surgery -often marketed as “groundbreaking and revolutionary” - can generate excitement, but some studies focusing on prostate surgery have shown that the outcomes are no better when compared to traditional surgery.
However Mr Daley said Labor was delivering what the doctors at St George wanted.
“We’re not forcing it on them, this is what they’ve asked for, we’re giving the machines they need to perform the surgeries they need using the specialist techniques they have,” he said.
The robotic surgery will focus on urology, general surgery, gynaecology, thoracic and ear, nose and throat surgery.
Labor’s health spokesman Walt Secord said doctors at St George had told him they wanted more than what the government offered a couple of weeks ago.
“I said 'what about the upgrade' and they said 'there’s one thing the government missed. We want to enhance robotic surgery',” he said.
Two weeks ago NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian promised if the government won the March poll, it would invest $385 million in St George Hospital and $479 million in Ryde Hospital to improve healthcare and increase the number of beds.
As part of Labor’s $385 million hospital upgrade, the major trauma centre at Kogarah will receive a new ambulatory care unit, outpatient and day surgery services, a new day rehabilitation unit and additional subacute inpatient beds.
Local Labor MP Chris Minns, who holds the seat on a tight 6.9 per cent margin, said St George was “under-appreciated”.
“It services every emergency department and intensive care patient right down to beyond Bega, here to right down south,” he said. “It deserves investment.”
St George Hospital has one of the state’s busiest emergency departments, seeing more than 81,000 patients a year, with 37 per cent of patients waiting longer than four hours.