Helen Dalton and Wes Fang agree that proposition for standalone department of rural health not the way forward to tackling rural health issues

Member for Wagga Wagga Joe McGirr is spearheading the idea, calling on the state government to establish a department of rural health, separate to the existing NSW framework, in an effort to address ongoing issues in the rural healthcare sector.

Dr McGirr, who has first-hand experience in regional emergency medicine and hospital management, said his idea is about "taking part of the bureaucracy [and] putting it in the region" and would help the state's first rural health minister Bronnie Taylor "make a real difference".

"I think she [Bronnie Taylor] wants to make a difference," Dr McGirr said of the new minister.

"For her to get things done she needs a team ... that will focus on these issues and I don't think a team that's doing that currently exists."

Wagga MLC Wes Fang said Ms Taylor's role is so new that she needed the opportunity to first work with the existing department of health to achieve outcomes for regional and rural NSW before a separate department could be considered.

"If we're able to deliver the outcomes with the current arrangements, that's going to be the best outcome for us all round," Mr Fang said.

"If we were to initially just duplicate a department that would result in increased cost and complexity, but not necessarily have the increased patient outcomes that we would seek."

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The MLC also noted that rather than spending the money on "backroom" bureaucracy, it should be put towards frontline services.

"We can't just create more doctors [and] nurses, all we're doing is creating more cost and complexity," he said.

"I'm not convinced that more background jobs are going to create more frontline doctors."

Member for Murray Helen Dalton said that whilst she was 'generally supportive' of the idea of a rural health department, changes would need to be made.

"Wes Fang makes a good point - in NSW we seem to employ more health bureaucrats than we do doctors and nurses," Mrs Dalton said.

"If a new rural health department is established, the NSW Government needs to cut back on the grossly overstaffed NSW Health bureaucracy based in North Sydney.

"Those Sydney-based bureaucrats and politicians keep telling me we don't need services in Griffith because people can travel to Wagga.

"It would be good to have these public servants based in regional locations like Griffith - if one of them had to drive for two hours to get a bone set, they may change their view."

Dr McGirr however remains convinced that NSW Health just doesn't 'have time' to be reformed to better tackle rural issues due to it being a large organisation.

"I think if you keep doing the same things and expect a different result, you're not going to get a different result," he said.

"How do you get the bureaucracy to focus on the issue out here? ... I think we've reached a point where I'm not sure the bureaucracy can. It's not a criticism, it's just not designed to do it."

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