Sky News is reporting that Katoomba Maternity unit has been closed for a 36 hour period due to lackof anaesthetic cover. It remains a mystery to me that so many people want to live in the mountains, and many who do are forced to travel to the city for work, yet NSW Health cannot recruit medical staff to work at the Katoomba Hospital.
The media is reporting that the NSW state government will no longer fund over time pay for full time Fire fighters to cover staff shortages if retained (part-time) staff call in sick.
This will cause approximately 30 stations in NSW to close peridically, including Leura.
The potential savings from this move? $1.5million.
It doesn’t seem like a good cost/benefit trade off. A pretty paltry saving against a $800m budget to needlessly put people in danger, particularly in a bush fire prone area such as the Blue Mountians.
The primary vote results have been tabulated, and there is a pretty even spread. The Greens look to have lead the way, with the ALP and Independents Terri Hamilton and Janet Mays also polling well.
The close race means preferences will be very important in deciding who gets the nod for the three vacancies. See the latest results at the AEC website.