Frustrations with a lack of doctor availability and continuity at Tenterfield Hospital – combined with geographic considerations – has prompted Tenterfield councillors to consider lobbying for Tenterfield to leave Hunter New England Local Health District and instead become a part of Northern NSW Local Health District.
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Several councillors at the November council meeting cited cases of GP patients waiting hours for their appointments while their stressed doctor dealt with emergency situations, and concerns about the staff turnover rate at the hospital itself.
It all came to a climax for Councillor John Macnish when the hospital was without a doctor and two GPs were out of town over the October long weekend.
“On a weekend with increased traffic, being in the middle of school holidays, etc, Tenterfield was in a very vulnerable position,” Cr Macnish said in his motion to lobby MP Thomas George for the health district transfer.
“Fortunately there were no emergencies.”
He backed up his call by pointing out Tenterfield’s proximity to Northern NSW’s base in Lismore as opposed to Hunter New England’s Newcastle base, Tenterfield now being sited in the Lismore state electorate, and the shire’s Urbenville Health Service already being under the auspices of the Northern NSW Local Health District.
He said the current situation of transferring patients to Armidale or Newcastle depending on the seriousness of their condition places additional strain and cost on their relatives, whereas Lismore is more accessible.
“This is not rocket science,” he said.
“We need to be closer to the centre of things.”
He said there have been a number of incidents at the hospital recently “relating to leadership from Newcastle”, and that staff morale was low and turnover was high due to frustrations with the system.
Cr Gary Verri was not as enthusiastic about the proposed move, saying that Urbenville and Ballina hospitals also had doctor shortages.
“We should fix the problems we’ve got,” he said.
“I can’t imagine it would be a smooth transfer.”
While Cr Greg Sauer was on board with the intent of Cr Macnish’s proposal, councillors accepted his recommendation to instead go straight to health minister Jillian Skinner with their concerns.
“We want to attack the top of the tree, not half way up,” he said.
“I’ve been here 12 months and seen the deterioration first hand. It can’t be tolerated.”
He said Tenterfield is not getting the appropriate level of health care. He proposed using Mr George’s advocay skills to attack the issue from the side and, if it can’t be addressed under the current regime, to then explore changing health districts.
