MP health

By Jim Mynard
CASEY Council has erupted into turmoil over claims by Narre Warren North MP Luke Donnellan that the council’s maternal and child health service had turned mothers away.
Mr Donnellan last week claimed in a media release that Casey was shortchanging new mothers and babies wanting to use the service.
He said new mothers were being turned away from the service “with nothing more than a questionnaire”.
Casey mayor Colin Butler said Mr Donnellan made his statement without bothering to seek facts from council officers delivering the service.
“He has caused undue confusion and concern in the community by launching a scare campaign about the council’s child health service.”
Cr Butler said Mr Donnellan was scare mongering.
And Casey’s director of community services, Jennie Lee, has said categorically that mothers have not been not turned away without consideration.
Nevertheless, the department was overloaded because of a statewide shortage of qualified staff, she said.
Ms Lee said there was a shortage of maternal and child health nurses across Victoria.
But the council had been proactive as a fastgrowing municipality in responding to the shortage since 2001.
Ms Lee said the council conducted an extensive review in 2001 to ensure that it was positioned to handle the pressures the service faced.
“The Casey MCH service received 3705 birth notifications in 2006 and has 39,932 children up to age six enrolled,” she said.
“With these staggering statistics, Casey has developed a strategy to address the issues confronting the service.”
She said that not only was the state’s nursing shortage and MCH workforce ageing and shrinking, but Victorian legislation was more stringent than other Australian states.
Ms Lee said legislation required that MCH nurses be triplecertificated and this made registration difficult.
“Despite these external forces the council had implemented innovative measures to attract nurses,” she said.
“These include offering nurse scholarships, employment of a workforce officer to market the service and recruit nurses, and the introduction of family resource centres that provide a hub of professional family services.
“This year the council will also provide placement for six student MCH nurses.”
Ms Lee said the council was committed to supporting families and children and reassured parents that appointments continued to be available with MCH nurses throughout the municipality.
Mr Donnellan said new mothers were required to assess the health of developmental progress of their children by filling in and returning the forms.
“It is concerning that council officers have implemented this new process without informing elected councillors,” he said.
Mr Donnellan said babies should be fully assessed by qualified health care professionals.
“The Howard Federal Government should address the shortage of nurses immediately, he said.
The Bracks Government was doing its bit by finding appropriate and recurring funding, he said.