Congratulations Griffith – people power has triumphed.
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Just days after a mass rally was organised to protest downgrades to Griffith base hospital’s pathology services, NSW Health Pathology has announced the decision will be reversed.
Jenna Woodland, who has worked tirelessly for weeks planning protests, was over the moon.
“We did it Griffith. The whole community have come together and we’ve won” .
NSW Patholoogy said in a statement “we’ve listened to the Griffith community including representations from local MP Adrian Piccoli and the local council and will no longer proceed with proposed changes to our histopathology service at Griffith Base Hospital.”
“This means histopathology samples collected from patients at Griffith will continue to be tested and diagnosed at our Griffith lab by our on-site staff.”
But Ms Woodland wants the August 12 rally to go ahead.
“It’s about more than just pathology. We need to show the government we’re not going to let them talk services away. Not now, not tomorrow, not ever”.
The rebellion over the hospital all started when hospital doctors Narayanan Jayachandran (Jaya) and Dr Maxwell Hopp risked their jobs by going public to expose the secretive changes made to the hospital with no consultation.
Ms Woodland had earlier called restoring pathology services “a referendum on Adrian Piccoli’s representation”.
Some 95 per cent of respondents a poll by the The Area News poll said they would vote against Mr Piccoli if the decision was not changed.
NSW Health Pathology added ““We want to reassure the community our pathology lab at Griffith Hospital remains open and we recently enhanced our services at Griffith by adding rapid flu testing in July. We respect the community’s voice and remain committed to providing high quality care for patients in the Griffith region.”