Opposition spokesman for health Ryan Park MP visited Tumut on Thursday to talk to members of the Tumut Community Association about the group's push to have full-time on-site doctors at the hospital.

His visit follows a regional protest spearheaded by Tumut residents. The group organised a rally in Wagga at the end of October to protest against the shortage of doctors in the Tumut District Hospital, but protesters from other smaller communities within the Murrumbidgee Local Health District also joined in.

Col Locke, president of the community association, said Mr Park had decided to visit Tumut after hearing about that rally.

Mr Locke said the Tumut community was continuing a campaign to have full-time on-site doctors on staff at the hospital, in place of the traditional approach of GPs also providing medical care at the hospital.

The community wants doctors with specialist experience in anaesthetic and emergency medicine.

The association has begun a petition and hope to gather 10,000 signatures, which would mean the issue would be raised in parliament. So fair it has about 7900.

"I think we're getting more traction on this," Mr Locke said.

After his visit to Tumut, Mr Park said the community needed on-site doctors to relieve the pressure on nurses and hospital staff and reduce the need for "frequent and expensive" patient transfers to Wagga Base Hospital by ambulance.

"It's important that we acknowledge the dedicated nurses, health workers and medical staff in the Tumut area, including hospital staff, paramedics and community nurses who provide excellent care every day," he said

"However, the current situation places too much pressure on nurses and puts patients at risk."

Mr Park says health services in the Riverina region wre under pressure and was concerned about the need for patients to make the three-hour return journey to Wagga, often by private vehicle, for medical care.

While in Tumut Mr Park renewed his call for an urgent independent inquiry into rural and regional health in NSW.

"The issue of under resourced hospitals and poor health outcomes for regional communities is one that unfortunately keeps coming up. That is why I am calling for an open and independent inquiry into rural and regional hospitals in the state," he said.