I write in response to events that have unfolded in Wee Waa during the past week and the performance of Hunter New England Local Health District bureaucrats in keeping open Wee Waa Hospital during the flooding.
Firstly, as a community we must thank wholeheartedly the nurses, many of whom did overtime to keep our hospital open. I understand some of these nurses normally work at Narrabri Hospital and so were working in an unfamiliar environment. Thank you so much for spending your time during the flooding caring for the people of Wee Waa. I hope someone was looking after your homes and mopping up after the record rains. Thank you also to the paramedics of our ambulance service who ventured out in the rain to attend to the needs of the community. Thank you to the pilots and staff of the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service who attended emergencies twice in the one evening at Wee Waa. It is people like this who make small communities like Wee Waa the great places to live in that they are.
As I previously mentioned, the performance of HNELHD needs to be acknowledged. Yes, it is true that they found the nurses to cover the night shifts and yes Dr Zoom (telehealth) was available to assist the nurses. It is still mind boggling though that a community that has three resident doctors must rely on a doctor on a computer screen for help especially when these doctors are willing to visit the hospital as visiting medical officers!
What the community is not aware of is the effort made by our mayor Darrell Tiemens on behalf of the Save Our Wee Waa Hospital committee to secure these services. You see three times he was informed that the hospital would close at 5:30pm. Once on Saturday, again on Tuesday and finally on Wednesday. Each time he escalated his request to the CEO of HNELHD and the office of the Minister of Health and each time after about an hour a statement would be announced keeping the hospital open overnight. Not once but three times! On Tuesday night there could have been a triple fatality had the hospital not been open with a baby born to a first-time mum and later an older person requiring life saving support.
The question is simply this. Why are people employed to ensure health services are running in our shire waiting to be asked to help us? It is making the community of Wee Waa think that they are second class citizens, not worthy of consideration during an emergency such as the flooding. Would this happen to a small hospital near Newcastle?
Peter Carrett
Wee Waa
