MINISTER Fentiman assured Cairns mothers she would work with the Cairns Private Hospital to keep maternity services open.
She was given every opportunity to deliver on her promise, which is now in tatters.
What’s worse, she can’t even front up to Queenslanders herself, instead she’s hiding behind bureaucrats.
Her failures have left Cairns mothers in the lurch.
On the same day Queenslanders discovered there was no plan to reopen maternity services at Weipa and Cooktown, and Innisfail and Mareeba Hospitals are regularly being bypassed, they now learn the only Private Hospital maternity service is closing.
All because Minister Fentiman hasn’t done her job.
She was warned the ‘us vs them’ approach to Private maternity services needed to end.
But Photo-op Fentiman wasn’t willing or able to deliver on her promise.
She was more focused on media announcements than delivering for the mothers of Cairns.
Cairns mothers deserve to know what this will mean for them.
Cairns Hospital is already under pressure, regularly receiving patients form Mareeba and Innisfail due to bypass, and with Cooktown and Weipa closed.
Queenslanders need assurances Cairns Hospital maternity services are safe.
This can’t be the start of a domino effect.
We’ve seen what happened in Gladstone, Cairns cannot be next.
Queenslanders deserve better than this chaos and crisis.