The Deputy Premier has refused to take responsibility for the tragic death of a patient at a local hospital while there were no doctors rostered on duty.
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Labor Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin took to parliamentary question time on Tuesday to ask Nationals Leader John Barilaro about the 2019 tragedy at Tenterfield hospital.
"In my community nurses are leaving emotionally and physically shattered, and a patient tragically died at a local hospital where there was no doctor physically present," she told parliament.
An MP yelled "that's not true" after her question.
Mr Barilaro did not concede anything.
"There's no health system that's ever perfect. In this year's budget alone, there's something like $950 million just for regional hospitals and new hospitals and upgrades," he said.
He said government had committed to hire over 5000 new nurses to work in the state health system, 45 per cent of them to be appointed in rural areas.
"Do we have issues in the bush in relation to service delivery in relation to attracting GPs? Yes, the answer is yes," he said.
"The issue around GPs isn't just a state issue, this is something that we're going to have to work with the federal government when it comes to GPs in the bush."
The Tenterfield patient was not the only one to die after presenting at a local hospital without a doctor physically present.
Another patient died in 2020 after presenting at the Glen Innes hospital while it did not have a single doctor working in the emergency room.
Former registered nurse and Glen Innes Mayor Carol Sparks told the NSW parliament's rural health inquiry the local hospital's reliance on locum doctors had cost three lives in her town.
Nearly 500 submissions by members of the public, professionals and groups to the rural health inquiry have been made public so far.