The South East Regional Hospital (SERH) has cost $187 million; $160.1 million from the federal government and $26.9 million from the state government.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But money, even millions of dollars, does not guarantee things won’t go wrong or that one doctor in the emergency department, overnight, is necessarily a given.
It’s completely understandable that a personal medical situation can prevent anyone attending their workplace, as in the case of the Visiting Medical Officer (VMO) who was rostered on the SERH’s emergency department (ED) on Wednesday night and Thursday morning August 17 and 18.
It is however, a measure of the Southern NSW Local Health District (SNSWLHD) management as to how they deal with the problem and how they plan for such an occurrence. It is also a measure of local medical staff who in the face of such difficulties have to deal with upset patients and families trying to access medical help in the emergency department. Locals reporting the situation on social media were full of praise for nurses in ED.
At best this looked like a very untidy situation with claims and counter claims flying between those who had sought help that night and the SNSWLHD management.
On Monday Bega Valley Health Service general manager Heather Austin was adamant there was a doctor in ED overnight.
On Tuesday the Local Health District said an anaesthetist (who we understand had worked that day) had stayed in the hospital overnight to attend to any category 1 patients that may have presented to the emergency department. It was a tough call for the anaesthetist concerned.
We understand there are budgetary pressures right through the health system but playing semantics over whether a doctor was on site and actively on duty throughout the shift, or on the premises but only dealing with the most serious of cases, is treating the public with disdain.
Where previously paramedics drove to Pambula or Bega Hospitals, and quickly off-loaded their patients to return to the community in readiness for the next call, now paramedics are experiencing waiting times while a bed becomes available.
In the run up to the tourist season it is time to consider how our visitors might best access our medical services. Maybe it’s time to open up Pambula ED, even if only on a temporary basis.
But can it be staffed adequately?