Leader readers will recall this project – which it is universally acknowledged was long overdue even then – was first formally mooted in a NSW infrastructure document in May/June 2006.

That was in the life of the parliament that ended with the election of March 24, 2007.

It was in the final days of that campaign – on March 7, 2007 – that Premier Morris Iemma promised the people of Tamworth “construction... will commence in the next term of Government”.

If the first sod on the hospital site is turned the day before Tamworthians next go to the polls then Mr Iemma – or his heirs and successors in the office of premier – will be able to claim they have kept the faith.

Whether that sits well with the voters will be another matter, however.

There is no argument that the infrastructure our health professionals have to work with is aging and, if the truth be known, pushing its “use by” in key areas.

There is also no argument that the proposed new hospital – still destined to be the subject of further studies and planning processes thanks to a drip fed $2 million in the 2008/2009 budget – can be used as an impediment to major public health upgrades such as the establishment of a radiotherapy unit locally for cancer patients.

Issues such as this, we are almost certain to be told, will be dealt with in the new hospital development when it arrives.

Yes, we understand the process of planning and funding a $130 million public hospital is a complex and involved affair.

Yes, we appreciate all the difficulties besetting the various powers-that-be involved in something as rich in bureaucratic potential and process as this.

Our concern is that Tamworth needs that new hospital today – and, in fact, five years ago.

The public health needs of our community should be setting the timetable for this development – not the political priorities of a State Government that will use this as a plank in its campaign platform in two – if not three – separate campaigns.