‘Save Wee Waa Hospital’ was the loud and clear message chanted by more than 150 locals who rallied out the front of the town’s health service last Thursday.
Business owners, employees, families, young and older members of the community, town and farming residents from across the district answered the late call-out to fight for the community’s vital health service, holding placards and urging people to sign a petition and help keep the hospital’s doors open.
“This hospital needs to be opened 24 hours a day with a doctor – that’s what we are demanding,” said Narrabri Shire mayor Darrell Tiemens.
“The hospital closes at 5:30 at night, we believe it’s the only hospital in Australia where the emergency department closes at 5:30,” Cr Tiemens told the rally and television media crews.
“The snakes don’t stop biting at 5.30, the strokes don’t stop happening, the emergencies don’t stop happening after hours. We want this hospital open 24/7 with a proper doctor, proper facilities and we want every single one of those wards to start being used properly.
“We are taxpayers of NSW and that’s what we’re demanding,” he said.
“And we want to have a look at our hospital.
“Equipment in this hospital has been paid for not by the state government, it’s been paid for by the community through local fundraising and we’re fed-up with being denied access to our facility.”
The public rally was called late on Wednesday afternoon (January 15) by the ‘Save Wee Waa Hospital’ community group who said a planned tour of the health service for local representatives had been cancelled.
Despite the rally’s short notice, Wee Waa district community members showed up at 10.30am the next day to stand up for ‘our hospital’, taking time away from their businesses, workplaces, and daily lives for the second time in two months following another rally held on November 26, which had more than 250 attendees.
And it paid off, with ‘people power’ appearing to make an impact as health authorities granted a group of local representatives a tour of the hospital shortly after the rally finished.
“People often dismiss the power of people but obviously the big hunks of people turning up at this rally today made a difference,” said Cr Tiemens after health authorities decided to grant a group of local representatives a tour of the hospital.
“I think the bureaucrats and the politicians have started realising that we are not going to back down on this fight – we have only just started.
“So, they’ve changed their mind.
“Now, a few of us have gained access to have a look at our hospital,” said Cr Tiemens.
“This is an unused public asset and the state government should be ashamed,” he added.
“Hunter New England Health should be ashamed and the fact they’ve got empty beds here and no doctors.
“People should hang their heads in shame at this hospital languishing like this.”
Before the tour was granted, a spokesperson for the Minister for Health Ryan Park said, “There are longstanding protocols in place to manage these requests. This reflects the need to manage patient privacy for those accessing local services; as well as to minimise any service disruptions associated with external visitors.”
When Cr Tiemens was asked about this explanation during the rally he said: “There are no patients. There’s not a single patient in that hospital.
“So patient privacy – there are no patients in there.
“They talk about these things and it’s doublespeak from the bureaucrats and the politicians.
“The heat is on the politicians and the bureaucrats to get this hospital back open again,” he said.
“We want to know – what are they hiding?
“Hunter New England Health would probably be one of the most opaque organisations I have ever dealt with and the politicians need to stand up to Hunter New England Health and ask the question – what are they hiding?”,” he asked.
“Today the community are meeting to basically demand access to their local hospital,” he told media crews at the rally.
“Wee Waa Hospital is a hospital in name only. For a number of years now, Hunter New England Health has slowly but surely been whittling away the services at our hospital and the community here is saying ‘enough is enough’.
“About a month ago we asked for access to have a tour of the hospital.
“Behind us are wards full of beds and equipment that are basically never used.
“The hospital closes at 5:30 at night … there’s no doctor assigned to this hospital. Now we say it’s a disgrace.
“It’s not just the community of Wee Waa – it’s Pilliga, it’s Burren Junction, it’s Merah North, it’s even Rowena.
“All these towns that rely, thousands of people, who rely on this hospital having a functioning emergency department and having a functioning hospital.”
Cr Tiemens said, “I can tell you that the taxpayers of NSW, they would be absolutely disgusted if they saw empty beds and empty wards.
“We don’t get any clarity out of Hunter New England Health.
“Why aren’t these beds being used? Why aren’t the local nurses that are living in Wee Waa, why aren’t they working at the hospital? We’re also asking why aren’t the four doctors that live in Wee Waa, why aren’t they employed at the local hospital?”.
Cr Tiemens again pushed for an independent inquiry.
“There needs to be a bomb put under Hunter New England Health,” said Cr Tiemens.
“There needs to be an independent inquiry and we need to get to the bottom of ‘what are they hiding?’ not just from Wee Waa Hospital but from right across the area.
“Their commitment to rural and remote hospitals is very questionable and this is evidence of why.
“We shouldn’t be going to Newcastle with a begging bowl asking for what is a fundamental right of our community to have a hospital that’s open after 5.30 at night.
“It makes me really angry that we have to go and beg for what is a fundamental right in this town.
“This town has got two high schools, it’s got three primary schools and yet we don’t have a hospital that is open properly, that even has a doctor – it’s a disgrace. “
As well as Cr Tiemens, other local residents and representatives spoke up at the rally, raising their voice and sharing their stories in the hope it will make a difference.
“It’s important to me that we have a hospital,” said Gwen Britten.
“It’s a big area and there’s lots of agriculture where accidents can happen.
“There are doctors wanting to come to the hospital, so what is the problem?
“Strokes don’t stop at 5.30 or accidents.
“I am concerned, I have an aged husband, and anything could happen, and he could die from here to Narrabri.
“And the problem is if you go to Narrabri, they’re short staffed.”
Wee Waa pharmacist Tien On spoke about the negative flow-on effects to other local health professionals, including paramedics, as well as sharing a personal experience.
“I had a dog attack incident. The ambulance attended and they couldn’t stitch me up and they couldn’t stitch me up here (the hospital) either.”
Attendees made it clear they weren’t blaming past or current local health staff, praising them for carrying out their work while many had been placed under enormous pressure.
Some reflected on Wee Waa Hospital’s ‘former glory’ when it had services such as surgery and maternity.
It’s understood the hospital has 10 wards, 18 beds and an unused palliative care ward with state-of-the-art equipment.
In 2019, Wee Waa News covered the official opening of the new Emergency Department rooms and the Serenity Room (palliative care) at the hospital.
The ED upgrade cost about $400,000 and the Serenity Room was a community-driven project with funds contributed by the hospital auxiliary and raised through a number of charity events including a masquerade ball, men’s health night along with donations from local groups including the fishing and biking clubs and Namoi Cotton Cooperative. Wee Waa Local Aboriginal Land Council chair Clifford Toomey painted a mural that hangs in the Serenity Room.
Community member Wendy Vankuyk told the Wee Waa News at the November rally “the community raised funds for a wonderful palliative care room there.
“My sister-in-law, Dora Oudenryn, was one of the last people to be able to die in that room.
“And without that, she would have been in Narrabri with so much less access to the people who loved her. And that room sits there empty now.
“The community spent thousands on that palliative care room.
“And then Hunter New England Health themselves spent thousands on creating a new emergency department.
“It sits there virtually unused.”
In 2023, HNELHD advised hospital services in Wee Waa would be temporarily reduced from May 8 in response to a shortage of healthcare staff.
Last Thursday, a spokesperson for Health Minister Ryan Park said: “Recruiting and retaining healthcare workers in rural and remote areas remains a long-standing challenge, not just in NSW, but across the country.
“The local health district continues to recruit for staff as well as offer incentives for those who join our rural and regional health services, including Wee Waa. We’re throwing everything we can at recruiting and retaining health workers in regional, rural and remote areas, including doubling rural health incentives; introducing study subsidies for regional health workers; and boosting doctors in our regional GP surgeries as well as hospitals through the single employer model.
“I meet regularly with the State Member Roy Butler who has been the strongest of advocates for restoring and increasing health services in this community. Last month we launched a community survey as part of the Collaborative Care Project to better understand the health needs and priorities of the community and determine our ongoing priorities.”
Member for Barwon Roy Butler didn’t attend the rally, which was called at late notice, but in his weekly newsletter said: “Last week the people of Wee Waa rallied to continue to demand that the local hospital be returned to normal operating hours.
“I spoke to the Health Minister earlier this month and he continues to reaffirm his commitment to keep the hospital open and to return it to normal operation, with a Visiting Medical Officer and increased services.”
“The problem lies in recruitment of a VMO and full nursing staff for the hospital, which Hunter New England LHD has so far failed to do,” said Mr Butler.
“It has been suggested that an inquiry is needed to work out why HNE has been unable to recruit staff, or to come to an agreement with a VMO.
“When Western LHD was confronted with a similar problem at Nyngan Hospital, going to reduced hours in October 2022, they engaged with the community working group formed to discuss the issues, they increased their recruiting efforts and by the beginning of 2024 they were back to normal operating hours.
“HNE were unwilling to engage with the Wee Waa Hospital Community Working Group and are showing a lack of interest in recruiting staff for the hospital.
“We have to ask the question why the HNE LHD efforts are failing, and we also must revisit the idea of splitting up HNE LHD, so that hospitals in New England have their own designated health district and are not having their resources drained to fill the needs of hospitals on the coast.
“I have requested a meeting between the Minister and the Wee Waa Hospital Working Group.”
Mr Butler held a community meeting at the Wee Waa Hospital grounds on December 14, where he and Narrabri Shire mayor Darrell Tiemens spoke and listened to the concerns of local residents.
A statement from Mr Park was shared at the December meeting: “To the community members of Wee Waa and surrounds,” stated the document from the NSW Health Minister.
“I want to make it clear that we are absolutely committed to health services in and around Wee Waa, including Wee Waa Hospital.
“The local health district continues to recruit for staff as well as offer incentives for those who join our rural and regional health services.
“We remain committed to restoring and increasing health services in the Wee Waa community.
“I will continue to work with the Local Member Roy Butler to get this situation resolved.”
At the time of going to print, the Wee Waa Hospital petition had more than 3000 signatures, 10,000 signatures are required for the issue to be debated in NSW Parliament.
Some committed community members will take the petition to the Tamworth Country Music festival to try to obtain more signatures.
Hunter New England Health was contacted for comment and referred the Wee Waa News to the quotes provided by Mr Park’s office.
Following the tour of Wee Waa hospital, Narrabri Shire mayor Darrell Tiemens said: “Such a great hospital languishing and going to waste.
“I saw ward after ward with empty beds, great equipment and not a single patient in the hospital.
“They tried to hide this from us today.
“It’s a crying shame: Hunter New England Health senior bureaucrats should hang their heads in shame.
“A pristine hospital with state-of-the-art equipment with not a single patient able to access inpatient beds. No doctor.
“No treatment for emergencies after 5.30pm.
“It’s a disgrace.
“Everyone who toured the Wee Waa Hospital was fired up by what we saw.
“We’re more determined than ever to win this.
“We want to know what they have got to hide?”
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