The rejection came in many forms.

Polite heckling during the meeting included shouts of “We don’t trust you”, “Same horse, different jockey”, but the mood of the meeting was made crystal clear when a motion was resoundingly passed at its conclusion.

Tura beach resident and retiree Jon Gaul proposed the motion.

“I moved that this public community meeting has no confidence in the Southern NSW Local Health District Board, has no confidence in its chief executive and no confidence in the management of the Southern NSW Local Health District,” Mr Gaul said on Wednesday.

A show of hands confirmed overwhelming support for the no-confidence motion from those at the community meeting.

“I was disappointed that Max Alexander (chief executive of the local health district) basically informed us (at the meeting) that he wants to close Pambula Hospital by making it crystal clear that it would not be a procedural hospital. “He also washed his hands of any actions of the former health service.

“That was the last straw for me so I moved the motion of no confidence.

“I think now (NSW Health Minister) Jillian Skinner is running a high risk of being seen by the local community as not delivering on her election promise.

“It was March 7, 2011, when Jillian Skinner stood outside Pambula District Hospital and said ‘You have the facilities, you have the resources. If we are elected, maternity will be returned to Pambula District Hospital. It will only be a matter of weeks, not months or years’.”

Mr Gaul voiced the belief of many at the meeting when he said: “Eve Bosak and her board and chief executive don’t want to return maternity to Pambula and they won’t do it. They’ll snow the minister with the ‘safety’ argument. Because they closed down maternity, now they want to impose a Rolls Royce model to reinstating it. As Dr Frank Simonson pointed out at the meeting last night, if the new standards for Pambula were applied across NSW, half the maternity units would have to be closed down.”

“If Jillian Skinner wants to be remembered for that, then so be it.

“Only the minister can restore maternity services to Pambula now if the bureaucrats won’t.”