Without doubt it has been a long, hard road for those involved at all levels of the decision over Pambula Hospital.
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The community committee, many of whom come from diametrically opposing positions, have managed to pull together a set of recommendations and to a large extent these have been accepted.
Without their willingness to compromise and the forbearance of the independent chair, Les Stahl, we can safely assume that the outcome would not have been what it is today.
We will get a nurse-led emergency with, we are told, trained ED nurses, from 8am to 8pm seven days a week.
The vast majority of patients at Pambula are classed as triage levels 4 and 5.
These are ailments that might also be seen by a GP.
For more serious matters, people are urged to call Triple-0 (000) because paramedics have facilities and drugs on board that can be used and administered to assist in the most serious of situations.
Behind the simple question though of why we can’t have an emergency service with doctors is a much more complex situation.
It would not be possible to run an emergency department at Pambula Hospital health officials maintain because there are are not enough local doctors willing to be on call for the service.
While there have been some stalwarts of the service, there are not enough and that places a huge burden on those who are willing to put their hands up.
The state of the hospital’s emergency department has been a matter of community concern for some years but without sufficient support from doctors the only alternative is to use locums at between $1500 and $1700 a day.
Even the new South East Regional Hospital will be reliant on local doctors for its emergency department.
The latest recommendations from the Pambula Hospital Community Engagement Committee appear to acknowledge the local difficulties.
Under the original plan Pambula Hospital would have been closed.
It has been brought back from the brink by the tremendous efforts of the community and the Pambula Hospital Community Engagement Committee.
Rarely has the community witnessed such a sustained and united voice.