Sick and waiting for hours to be seen by a doctor at the Naracoorte Health Service (public hospital).
How does that feel?
And if that’s not bad enough, how about waiting for four hours for an ambulance transfer?
Crowded emergency departments and worsening ambulance service—is this telling us something?—is this how sick our regional health system has become?
But mind you, SA Health’s Limestone Coast Local Health Network (LCLHN) says it’s ok—the wait time is within the standard response time range for all triage levels.
This newspaper [Naracoorte Community News] continues to receive concerns from members of the public about not getting the best of services at the public hospital.
Some no longer have confidence in regional health care, whether it is to be seen by a doctor or picked up by an ambulance.
Many patients claim the waiting time for outpatients to be seen by a doctor at the Naracoorte Hospital has increased to about five hours on some days.
Some elderly patients who shared their experience said they had to wait for four hours to be transferred from Naracoorte Hospital to the Mount Gambier Hospital because there was no ambulance available, or it was busy.
But who’s listening to the taxpayers?
What’s happening to all the talks by our politicians and bureaucrats overseeing our health system that’s buckling under immense strain?
This newspaper [Naracoorte Community News] questioned SA Health about what it was doing to address the growing challenges facing patients at the Naracoorte Hospital.
Responding to questions, LCLHN’s new chief executive officer, Emma Poland, said, “while there’s always room for improvement, the sickest patients are always treated first, and our rosters are fully staffed”.
Ms Poland said attracting doctors to regional areas was a challenge across the country.
“Which is why SA Health is offering incentives of up to $15,000 to encourage healthcare workers to relocate to regional and rural South Australia.
“In last year’s budget, the state government committed $1million for a new Clinical Services and Infrastructure Plan that will shape Naracoorte’s future health services.
“The plan will consider existing services across the region, as well as the extensive planning that was undertaken when the Keith & District Healthcare model was transitioned into public health services last year.”
Ms Poland said this was on top of the $8million of infrastructure upgrades at Naracoorte Health Service that will improve and modernise the hospital and are being carefully planned to meet its most urgent and critical needs.
“The upgrades will focus on the hospital’s emergency department, increased ED consulting rooms, a resuscitation bay for the critically unwell and an upgrade of close observation beds.”
She said the response time for emergency presentations was closely monitored at the hospital and all triage levels were within the expected response time range.
“Lower triage levels are supported by the South Australian Virtual Emergency Services program between 7pm and 7am when required.”
According to Ms Poland, the hospital has a wide range of specialist services provided from both Adelaide and Mount Gambier.
Naracoorte Hospital includes 39 public beds, six-day surgery beds, two operating theatres, same-day and overnight stays, specialist consulting rooms, youth health, and a residential aged care unit in Moreton Bay House.
“We now have two operating theatres with more procedures than ever able to take place close to home.”
This article appeared in the Naracoorte Community News.
Related story: Patient waiting times worrying
