MEMBER for Tweed Geoff Provest is confident a clinical review of the Tweed Hospital would lead to a hospital expansion.

“This is only the start of the plan,” Mr Provest said.

“A clinical plan will open the way for a master plan that can lead to an expansion of the hospital.”

Mr Provest said he expected an expansion to occur because two years ago the Garling Inquiry revealed that Tweed Hospital was near capacity.

The inquiry looked at the quality of service at every hospital in NSW.

“What was of concern was that, at the time, there was no future plan for the hospital,” he said.

“Two years ago there were 1100 babies born at the hospital for the year and now there is 1400 a year.

Mr Provest said the lack of forward thinking at the time was one of his biggest gripes.

“There is a definite need for this plan with the growth in the population both here and across the border,” he said.

Although Mr Provest was confident the study would lead to a hospital expansion, he was not sure of a timeframe.

“How long is a piece of string? It could be three years or five years,” he said.

“This is just the first step and I expect this to be completed by early next year.”

“The thing about the study is that it’s run by the frontline staff.

“And that’s the key component of it.

"The staff are the ones that know what’s happening and need to have an input.”

North Coast Area Health Service CEO Chris Crawford said the doctors and nurses were heavily involved in the process.

“We do look at higher level data such as demographics and population growth, but there is also a look at each specific service that we provide."

Mr Crawford said he did expect some surprises from the study.

“The last study was in 2001-02. There were some surprises from the last study,” he said.

“One of the key things was that we had to build up our mental services and renal dialysis.”

Mr Crawford said the maternity services had already expanded.