Meanwhile in Bendigo the CEO, John Mulder, has come out and stated that the current public pathology service at Bendigo Health is of high quality, and that the review of its pathology service is not about saving money. Mr Mulder says that he is supporting the in-house team in convincing the Board and Executive that a competitive in-house service is in the best interests of the community.

We welcome Mr Mulder’s comments and look forward to his support.

The community has already made its views well known regarding the need for the retention of public pathology in public hands in Bendigo, with over 5,000 petitions signed.

Bendigo Health has undertaken an internal review of its original decision to deny us a Freedom of Information request. BH has again refused to provide the MSAV with the reports which it claims prove that the Bendigo Health Pathology Service is twice as expensive as other comparable services. We are not convinced about this.

We will be appealing this decision in the Victorian Administrative Appeals Tribunal (VCAT). Of course the review of pathology is not about money ….