Having maternity birthing services returned to the hospital and installing a CT scanner would come to fruition by year’s end, if it was up to South Coast MP Shelley Hancock. 

The lack of maternity services was “frustrating” for Mrs Hancock who said “bureaucracy has slowed down” the process. 

“I can’t get much angrier about it, but if there isn’t a clear commitment by the end of the year, I will be mad,” she said. 

“We have worked through a very complex process regarding safety and we now have level one services, but we need to be able to move towards mum’s being able to have their babies at Milton again, like I did. 

“I absolutely accept that it is complex and about safety but surely we can resolve this.” 

Mrs Hancock said mother’s should have the choice of where they have their babies. 

“I am concerned and frustrated also because it keeps being said, ‘O’well, all of these mothers seem comfortable having their children in Shoalhaven’,” she said. 

“Of course they are comfortable, because they don’t have any other choice. 

“If they were given a choice, they would say Milton because they will have family around and won’t have to trek up the highway.”

Fantastic progress had been made by community liaison representatives Rebecca Cameron and Sunnee Ord, Mrs Hancock said. 

“This is something we need to drive,” she said. 

“I am paralised in a way, bureaucracy trying to move, but it is moving slowly and I can’t move it faster.

“We had a clear promise that services will be returned. If that commitment was given, they should be moving much more quickly.”

Meanwhile, an application to have a CT scanner installed at Milton Ulladulla Hospital was underway. 

Mrs Hancock said she had listened to the paramedics who had been calling for the technology for “quiet some time”. 

“Veterinarians have them but the hospital doesn’t; it is unacceptable,” she said. 

“The Premier has indicated she would be supportive. We have started the process. 

“The federal government licences CT scanners and we are dealing directly with health minister Greg Hunt to get that approval process fast tracked.”