Katoomba Hospital clinic may close

Blue Mountains Gazette
by Shane Desiatnik
October 28th 2009

Health bureaucrats have ordered a review of a Katoomba Hospital clinic that at least 57 Blue Mountains residents rely on for regular life-saving treatment of blood disorders.

An internal Sydney West Area Health Service (SWAHS) email between managers in its Western Pathology Cluster dated October 12 requested the clinic be shut down by the end of the month because it was not within the scope or service provision of the pathology division, despite being open for the last 13 years.

The email recommended other arrangements will need to be made for the provision of the service by SWAHS management as a matter of priority “due to the timeframe for cessation”.

Upon inquiry by the Gazette last week, a SWAHS spokesperson said the clinic will remain open while a review of the service is done by the end of November, but could not guarantee the clinic will remain open in the long term.

“That email (requesting the closure of the clinic) is incorrect — it was not an official SWAHS email,” the spokesperson said.

“We will be writing to patients that the clinic is not closing at the end of October.

“The results of the review will be known at the end of November and if the end result recommends any changes we will notify and talk to the patients.

“I can’t say there won’t be any changes.”

The Gazette understands staff and senior managers based at Katoomba Hospital have requested an urgent meeting with SWAHS decision-makers to discuss the matter.

The venesection clinic provides treatment for blood disorders including Haemochromatosis, a hereditary disorder that affects one-in-300 Australians.

Iron levels in the blood can rise by up to 10 times over the normal range due to the illness and if left untreated can cause permanent damage to the liver, heart and other major organs and even death.

To normalise blood iron levels and stop any organ damage, half a litre of blood must be removed by a specialist through a venesection procedure, usually once or twice a week in the most severe stage of the disease and then three or four times per year.

Seventy-year-old Blackheath resident Michael Eastland told the Gazette he “doesn’t have a clue” what he’d do if the clinic closed at Katoomba Hospital.

“I think it’s intrinsically wrong to withdraw this service — it is not available anywhere else in the Blue Mountains and I understand a considerable number of people rely on it.

“The people working at Katoomba Hospital are fantastic and all medical services (there) should be geared to the patient.

“But it’s getting to the point where the services are for the benefit of the area health management and this matter is a prime example.”