Greens outline priorities for regional health as part of party's campaign for NSW election

The party's Upper House candidate and former Albury deputy mayor Amanda Cohn joined other Greens contenders in Nowra on Wednesday for the party's launch of its rural health plan.

The party wants to hire 1500 new paramedics for regional ambulance stations which it says would free up existing rosters.

Other initiatives include a rural and remote health commissioner and 12 clinics where a GP or allied health professionals could be access without cost.

The Greens also would like a 15 per cent pay rise for public sector nurses, midwives and paramedics.

A replacement of private locum agencies with a centralised statewide service for stopgap health workers is another proposal.

Dr Cohn said "this package will save lives and foster healthier communities across NSW".

"Communities across rural and regional NSW don't have fair access to health care - in fact, on average people living in metropolitan areas of NSW live 2.2 years longer," she said.

Meanwhile, the member for Murray wants Deniliquin and Finley to be part of a breakaway health service rather than continuing to be subservient to a Wagga-focussed body.

Helen Dalton would like western areas of the Riverina to be removed from the Murrumbidgee Local Health Service.

She believes if those southern Riverina towns and the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area had their own health service it would reduce travel for patients and allow for greater autonomy for medicos at Griffith and Deniliquin hospitals.

"It's a no-brainer, we've had enough of being considered a third-world country in our district," Mrs Dalton said.

The Independent MP noted northern NSW Nationals MP has also spoken about wanting to have a health service split in his area.

Adam Marshall presented a petition with more than 16,000 signatures to parliament last year calling for a Tamworth-based New England Area Health Service instead of his area being part of a Newcastle-centred administration.

Mrs Dalton said the NSW parliamentary inquiry into rural health had shown the need for better services and having a recast Murrumbidgee health service last year should be part of the broad response to that probe.

"I'm also calling for local board to be reinstated," she said.

"When we had local boards 20-odd years ago our services ran in the black and we had better services and people were catered for."

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