Your radiographers, sonographers, medical physicists and radiologists are the imaging professionals who provide the services that allow for quick and accurate diagnosis that leads to timely and effective treatment. They tell us that privatising medical imaging services in the new RAH will put profits before patients, lead to patients having to make expensive trips to other services, put staff and patients safety at risk, deskill our health professionals and lower the quality of services provided to the community. South Australians have paid over $2 billion for a new state of the art hospital and they should have free access to medical imaging no matter how frail they are and how complex their conditions. It is time for Minister Jack Snelling to stand up for South Australians and protect public imaging.

SA Pathology is the backbone of public health in South Australia. Pathology is involved in 70% of medical treatment decisions, and 60% of Australians will require pathology services at least once a year. Despite this, the South Australian Government wants to cut hundreds of jobs from your public pathology service. When jobs are cut in pathology, people don’t just lose their jobs, diagnosis is delayed and South Australians will stay sicker for longer. Our medical scientists study and diagnose diseases such as meningococcal and leukemia, and work directly with our doctors to better treat patients and find a cure. Pathology services are core to the delivery of an efficient functioning health service yet the South Australian Government plans to seriously compromise this by cutting hundreds of jobs. Simply put, cutting 278 jobs from SA Pathology is dangerous, short sighted and will only result in costly delays in diagnosis. We know that the sooner a patient can be diagnosed, the quicker they can begin the right treatment plan and recover. It is time for the Minister Jack Snelling to value medical science and protect public pathology.

Health care is a universal right and should be about patient care. A private operator will have to generate profit. That can only be achieved by underpaying or reducing staff and scrimping on services. Ultimately it’s the patients that suffer. If it's the choice between treating a private patient or one on Medicare we all know who misses out. We want to ensure our hospitals remain in public hands for the benefit of everyone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFTflWk8h5Q