Goulburn Mulwaree and Upper Lachlan’s population is forecast to increase from 35,800 in 2011 to 38, 750 in 2021 and 41,000 in 3031.

Ageing will bring the most pressure to bear on services.

The draft clinical services plan recommends a new model of care across seven ‘health streams’ in Goulburn.

They are: critical care, medical, surgical, rehabilitation and aged care, child and family services and mental health, drug and alcohol, with ambulatory overarching all of these.

“(The streams) recognise the need to focus more on hospital avoidance and preventing readmission through managing patients in the community in new and innovative ways,” the document states.

Goulburn Health Service general manager Kerry Hort says it is about a vision for the community’s health needs “providing the right care, in the right place at the right time.

“These services need to be designed with patient outcomes and experiences in mind,” she said.

“To achieve this, it will require the right mix of hospital, community and homebased care. As the population and its needs change, this mix of services will also need to adapt to meet that need.

“While the physical infrastructure is an important component, it needs to be considered in a wider context.”

She says there will be an overall increase on the current 102 beds. The report recommends channelling resources to areas of growth and providing flexibility to meet fluctuations in demand over the longer term. The model is described as a more contemporary way of delivering care.

But it will mean cuts in some areas, like the maternity department. Beds are slated to drop from the current 10 to five over the seven to 10-year planning timeframe.

“The current and future proposed models of care – Towards a Normal Birth and Midwifery-led models of care will greatly enhance the delivery of maternity services to the Goulburn population,” Ms Hort said.

“Goulburn averages 300 births a year. The CSP projects only a moderate increase in demand. The models of care will allow the bed base to be more flexible to meet demand, because at present many of the maternity beds are often vacant.”

Paediatric beds would also be reduced from eight to six and two ‘flexible’ surgical beds allocated to another area.

There are wins in other areas, including recommendations for: * A 15-bay emergency department, building on the current nine bays; * A 10-bed critical care unit, four intensive care, two highdependency and four coronary care beds; * 40 overnight acute care beds, up from the current 24; * Establishment of a theatre procedure room.

Importantly, the report recommends establishment of an outpatient clinic with flexible design catering for a number of needs. It will be coupled with programs posing alternatives to hospital admission.

“The core goal of the ambulatory care stream will be to provide treatment and ongoing support for people with chronic or complex conditions which will minimise the need for hospital admission,” the report states.

Ms Skinner is reviewing the document. The challenge then is to score funding, based on the best option.

Both Ms Goward and Cr Kettle have been lobbying Health Minister Jillian Skinner for funding.