Perth, Western Australia (Old Edition) Home News Time Out Letters Write a Letter Special Coverage Walsham Classifieds Search Real Estate Trades & Services Submit About Contact Us Advertising Legal	Rehab hospital left in limbo Shenton Park Rehabilitation Hospital - out in the cold? With all the parking problems at QEII and how Princess Margaret Hospital can be fitted on to the site, the poor state of health at Royal Perth Re habilitation Hospital in Shenton Park has been forgotten. The infrastructure at this 150-bed facility has been deliberately neglected for years, as there is a plan to close it, and rebuild the place as part of an A-class tertiary hospital, such as the Fiona Stanley Hospital in Murdoch, some time in the future. However, despite repeated representations, we have been left out of the initial "phase one" planning for the Fiona Stanley Hospital and now must anticipate sustaining services until probably 2018. Meantime this is Western Australia's one – and only – rehabilitation centre, to which anyone under 65 who might suffer a serious head or spinal injury or stroke, often requiring months of rehabilitation, will be referred. Management estimates that about $40 million is required to upgrade the wards, the engineering facility and other infrastructure to meet Australian hospital accreditation standards. Prioritising where to spend the health dollar is difficult. However, it is a basic requirement of our health system to provide an adequate facility for the care of desperate patients (and their families) and an appropriate environment for the staff who provide that care. Could we, therefore, please have a commitment from both political parties to support the funding required to allow us to continue serving the community in our special role, and the reassurance we are not forgotten.   Dr Robert Edis Rehabilitation neurologist, Royal Perth Hospital, Shenton Park Campus Do you have something to say? Write to us and we may publish your letter next week. < PREVIOUS - HOME - NEXT> Copyright © 1999 - 2008 Post Newspapers Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.