The Wee Waa district was in the spotlight at a public hearing held in Narrabri on Tuesday looking at a proposal to split the Hunter New England Health District into two separate districts – Hunter Local Health District and the New England North West LHD.
While the NSW parliamentary inquiry isn’t solely focused on the Wee Waa Health Service, the message shared by community members who appeared as witnesses at the public hearing was loud and clear when it came to the current operation of the town’s hospital and the experiences – many challenging and heartbreaking – locals have endured.
“HNEH is failing us in service delivery, management, securing doctors, and even basic communication — our Hospital Advisory Committee hasn’t met in years,” said Save Our Wee Waa Hospital representative Kate Kahl.
The Save Our Wee Waa Hospital campaign has been dogged in its campaign to try to restore services at the town’s health service following a reduction in 2023, calling for the reinstatement of a 24/7 hospital with an on-call doctor in town (Visiting Medical Officer).
“Splitting HNEH and moving management to Armidale or Tamworth would put decisions back in the hands of those who live here and understand rural hospitals must remain fully operational to keep their communities safe,” said Mrs Kahl.
“HNEH is trying to run an area almost half the size of New Zealand from Newcastle — it’s too big, too remote, and too slow to respond.
“The further you live from management’s ‘beating heart’, the less care you receive — and Wee Waa is proof. It’s easy to cut services in a town you don’t live in or understand.”
Richard Schwager from the NSW Farmers Association, Wee Waa Branch said, “Why should the thriving community of Wee Waa, with 24/7 agricultural industries, two high schools, three primary schools, an aged care facility, a preschool, and a population living seven hours’ drive from Newcastle, have a fraction of the health service of similar sized rural towns like Boggabri, Baradine and Collarenebri.
“The answer is because of HNEH mismanagement over a 20-year period. Being managed from Newcastle, a far away metropolitan hub, the challenges of rural living are not understood.”
“Wee Waa has the doctors, it has a fully equipped hospital building, it has the ambulance service and the nurses will follow the doctors,” Mr Schwager added.
“What we don’t have is health officials to bring it together. We are not asking for a big new shiny hospital with all the technology. We only want what we had 20 years ago.”
Many local witnesses courageously shared their personal experiences with the Committee on Community Services panel, in the hope it will create positive change.
“My mother wouldn’t go to Wee Waa Hospital without a doctor. And she died in her bed the next day,” said Wee Waa resident John Fogarty.
The committee was told ‘a lot of people are avoiding going to Wee Waa under the current tele-health offering’.
Daniel Kahl from Merced Farming said he was at Wee Waa Hospital with his three-year-old daughter after she’d injured herself at pre-school and a very apologetic nurse had to ask them to leave (by 5.30pm) because the hospital was closing.
“I had to sign a waiver,” Mr Kahl explained to accept liability for his daughter’s care.
Mr Kahl expressed empathy for the nurse who was in a tough situation.
“I shouldn’t have to make that decision,” he said.
“My child should have been able to remain under observation at the hospital, where she could happily sit eating jelly.”
“The services we now have at Wee Waa are frighteningly inadequate and band-aid measures are in place,” said Anne Weekes from the Wee Waa Hospital Auxiliary.
“The staff at Wee Waa Hospital deserve honourable mention for persevering, especially during two recent floods in the last five months.”
“In Wee Waa, the lack of public transport is a stark reality.
“We strongly advocate for the restructuring of the HNEHD.”
“Everyone is entitled to the basic health needs,” said Jono Phelps, representing NSW Farmers Association, Wee Waa Branch.
“Hunter New England Health has not been able to negotiate a satisfactory outcome …we have three doctors in Wee Waa who aren’t able to go to the hospital,” he added.
Since May 2023, the hours of Wee Waa Health Service have been ‘temporarily reduced’, operating from 8am to 5.30pm.
Hunter New Hunter New England Health explained at the time it was due to ‘significant challenges securing healthcare staff’. As previously reported, people have since been forced to seek healthcare elsewhere such as travelling 40 kilometres to Narrabri with a lack of access to transportation a big issue for many locals.
Wee Waa Local Aboriginal Land Council chief executive officer Robyn Keeffe said, “A very dramatic effect on our people, and we don’t have transport, so our people have a barrier now to seeking medical help.”
WWLALC chair Clifford Toomey, along with other witnesses, expressed concerns about cutbacks to maternity and palliative care services.
“The needs of our Aboriginal communities in terms of connection to country being close to family and community when you’re born, and at the end of life when you die,” he said.
“It’s about trying make sure that health is delivered in a more culturally sensitive way to keep people close to family and close to country.”
SOWWH campaigner Carmel Schwager also highlighted the different emotional and financial pressures impacting community members because of the reduction in services.
Concerns about poor communication, resources, impact on life expectancy and access to quality healthcare were also raised.
“You’re embarrassed to hand on to your children, you know, that your health service is going to be poorer because of where you live,” said Mrs Schwager.
“I find the fact that we have got doctors in Wee Waa and they aren’t contracted to the hospital, a failure of management,” said Mrs Schwager.
Wee Waa Chamber of Commerce representative Andrew Bowen also appeared as a witness to advocate for the town alongside Christian ‘Chippy’ Petersen from RiverBank Youth Works, who spoke passionately about mental health and the impact of a late diagnosis on young people.
Mr Petersen also shared a personal experience, “My son had a brain biopsy last week.
“We’re still waiting for Hunter New England Health specialists to get back to us on whether they’re going to see him. We had to go outside of the district into Sydney to get that to happen, we were able to do that because of our health insurance. The kids I work with, most of them – don’t have that option.”
When asked what incentives could help attract more nurses to the town of Wee Waa, considering the staff shortage, Mr Phelps said there were nurses living in Wee Waa but working in other towns and he believed a VMO at the hospital would attract nursing staff.
“The doctor is the key, they (nurses) like to work with doctors,” said Mr Phelps.
“Doctors are the key, and they are two blocks away.”
Mr Phelps thanked the committee for travelling to the ‘Wee Waa district’ for the hearing, he warmly invited them to the town of Wee Waa and urged them to come back to ‘broker a deal’ to secure a Visiting Medical Officer at the Wee Waa Hospital.
The Committee on Community Services is holding the inquiry into the Health Services Amendment (Splitting of the Hunter New England Health District) Bill 2025 after it was referred to the committee by the Legislative Assembly in February.
“The bill was introduced by the Member for Barwon, Roy Butler, to improve health services in the Hunter New England LHD by splitting the existing district into two separate health districts,” said committee chair Clayton Barr MP.
“The committee will be looking at how this proposal would operate, including potential benefits and risks, and whether it would improve health services in the Hunter New England area.”
It was the first of two regional hearings scheduled for this week.
It’s the same inquiry that received a flood of submissions from local residents, community groups and organisations, with local submissions to the NSW parliamentary inquiry showing broad community approval for splitting the district.
Support for the HNELHD split was on display at Tuesday’s hearing, however, the overwhelming plea was about finding a way restore services at Waa Hospital with community members seizing the moment to plead their case to a panel of politicians, bravely share their stories to make a difference and fight for better healthcare services.
Wee Waa is the most western health service in the Hunter New England District and another point of discussion during the hearing was about whether the town would be better off in the Western LHD.
“More than half of our 100 submissions have come to talk to us about Wee Waa. That to me suggests there is a significant and acute and singular problem that needs to be fixed,” committee chair Clayton Barr MP told The Courier after the hearing.
The committee travelled to Narrabri for the hearing, with Mr Barr adding that he appreciated the people who had made submissions to the inquiry and gave their time to be witnesses and speak up.
“I cannot overstate or overemphasise how important it is to travel into the regions to hear from people on their home turf. “
Representatives from Member for Barwon Roy Butler’s office attended the hearing.
He released a media statement following it.
Public hearings into Barwon MP Roy’s Butler’s Bill to split Hunter New England Health have been an important step towards better health services for local people, according to Mr Butler.
Mr Butler is thanking local people who shared their stories and the MPs who visited Narrabri and Tamworth to listen to them, as part of the Committee on Community Services Public Hearings in Narrabri yesterday and Tamworth today.
“I appreciate all of those who took the time to prepare submissions and speak publicly with visiting NSW MPs about their experiences with Hunter New England Health,” said Mr Butler.
“I’m pleased the work I’ve been doing to find solutions has given local people a platform to share their experiences directly with representatives of NSW Parliament.
“We are currently working on an Implementation Plan to return full services at Wee Waa Health Service, with a public meeting on August 25 to discuss the plan with the community. I invite participants to RSVP through my website.
“My Bill to split Hunter New England Health has identified gaps in service delivery across country areas of Hunter New England Health, and I look forward to seeing the Committee’s recommendations to resolve them.
“Whether a full split of Hunter New England Health is recommended or not, I certainly believe country people would benefit from some of the management in Newcastle being reallocated to Tamworth.
“I would also like to see full financial transparency across Hunter New England Health, so that we can see where the money is being spent and how the services in each town compare,” Mr Butler concluded.
As previously reported, in its submission to the inquiry HNELHD raised concerns about the split being disruptive, costly and detrimental to communities.
A further article on the inquiry will feature in a future edition of The Courier including budget matters.
