I hung-up and phoned Sapphire Clinic. Dr. Benjamin saw my husband straight away, and told me to take him to the new Regional South East Hospital. Dr. Benjamin phoned ahead to say he thought his patient had pneumonia and needed to be admitted to hospital.   

We waited 2.5 hours to see the nurse, then a doctor. The staff from the Emergency Department had been called to help in the Emergency Ward. Obviously, there is not the staff to cover both Emergency places at once.   

After tests my husband was admitted at 7.40pm, I returned home to Pambula Beach managing to avoid kangaroo's and wallabies.   

I was told to phone the next day,  I phoned at 9am, was put through to the medical ward, they could not tell me how my husband was, to phone back at 10am.  I phoned 10.05, and 10.10, both times getting an answering machine saying to leave a message. The fourth time I phoned I was disconnected.   

Luckily my husband managed to borrow a phone from a nurse to tell me he was okay.   

There are no phones available for patients in the ward   I realize a new hospital has teething problems, but I do feel shortage of staff, and the phones should have been sorted out before the hospital was opened three weeks ago. There were two patients in Emergency from Pambula/Merimbula waiting for treatment.   

One had waited six hours on Saturday, and five hours on the Monday.   

Surely this proves the government’s mistake in closing Emergency at Pambula Hospital.   

What will happen in the summer?

Rosemary Poole, Pambula Beach