Federal Labor MPs Brian Mitchell and Ross Hart have called on the Turnbull Government to save Meander Valley health services.
The MPs are concerned that changes to Primary Health Network funding guidelines look likely to result in the end of long-standing allied health services in the Meander Valley.
PHN has decided to redirect its focus to funding coordinated chronic care. That leaves preventative programs run by a social worker, mental health worker and youth worker in limbo.
In federal parliament on Tuesday, Mr Mitchell said he and Mr Hart would ask federal health minister Sussan Ley for a six-month reprieve.
“The people of Meander Valley value these services very highly and are desperate to see them kept,” Mr Mitchell told MPs.
“It should not be a case of either or. When something works, when something is valued, it should not be simply discarded for something new and untested.
“We ask that for six months the current programs, not just in Meander Valley but throughout Tasmania, run concurrently with whatever new services the PHN decides, and that a review be undertaken of respective outcomes.
“A decision could then be made based on qualitative data and in the best interests of regional health outcomes, and not simply a bottom line.”
ROSS HART MP FEDERAL LABOR MEMBER FOR BASS
