Tenterfield Hospital will not be left without a doctor over coming weeks, Hunter New England Local Health District's Susan Heyman said, with doctors rostered until at least January 27.
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"I want to assure the community that there is sufficient nursing and medical staffing rostered at Tenterfield Hospital over the holiday period," HNELHD's Rural and Regional Health Services executive director said.
Ms Heyman said HNEHLHD continues to work with local doctors and staffing agencies to fill the medical roster on a monthly basis, and is in the process of rostering for the year ahead.
"Recruiting to rural and regional areas is not only a challenge Australia-wide but world-wide, and NSW faces the same issues as other states and territories.
"It is common that rosters can vary at times due to the changing circumstances of the staff rostered. If a vacancy arises, hospital management works with agencies such as Rural and Remote Medical Services to fill any gaps as quickly as possible.
"In the rare instance that a medical officer is not available on-site, medical support is available from Armidale, Tamworth and John Hunter hospitals via telehealth video conferencing."
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NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association (NSWNMA) disputes that the level of nursing staff is adequate, calling for urgent intervention from NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard to resolve staffing issues at the hospital following reports of roster gaps being left unfilled and putting patient safety at risk.
"The current situation at Tenterfield Hospital is entirely unacceptable and dangerous," NSWNMA General Secretary Brett Holmes said.
"The nurses there are working tirelessly to provide care to their community, but they urgently need support. The situation is so dire that it has led to management requesting some staff withdraw their annual leave applications over the holiday period.
"On top of this, nurses are being expected to answer the door to the hospital to ask COVID-19 screening questions, despite being short-staffed and working overtime.
"Even before the opening of the new, bigger Emergency Department in 2019, our members had asked for additional staff. Now that it's open, they need at least three nurses rostered on each shift."
In good news HNEHLHD has successfully recruited three registered nurses with two nurses due to commence on January 4 and the other due to commence in early February. Recruitment to an additional two nursing positions is ongoing.
"Tenterfield Hospital management meets regularly with staff to hear their feedback about nursing hours and patient activity and as with all facilities, we continuously monitor activity and staffing numbers at Tenterfield Hospital to ensure the safe delivery of patient care," Ms Heyman said.
"If activity increases, additional nursing staff can be rostered on if required.
"Recruitment in rural and regional areas is an important issue, and we will continue work with our State and Federal counterparts to attract doctors and other health staff to the region."
Mr Holmes said the Tenterfield community cannot wait for the results of the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into the state of rural, regional and remote health care, and that the Health Minister must immediately intervene to prioritise the healthcare in the Tenterfield community by increasing the number of nurses so they can provide safe patient care.
"This must be the first step to resolve this staffing crisis across all regional and rural NSW. Your postcode should not decide the level of healthcare you receive."
