Statewide, patient demand for NSW public hospitals was higher in July to September 2019 than any previous quarter, the latest Bureau of Health Information Healthcare Quarterly report revealed.

There would be a lot of reasons for the increase: Our population is growing, people's budgets are tighter, it was flu season and a GP visit can be expensive.

But when it comes to Wagga Base, there is another possibility we need to consider: The lack of available medical care in smaller hospitals means more people are being brought to larger facilities for emergency treatment.

There are 33 hospitals in the Murrumbidgee Local Health District and 29 of them rely on GPs in private practice to also provide cover for hospital emergency departments.

The problem is that the shortage of doctors generally means many smaller communities are struggling to find enough doctors to just fill GP practice vacancies, let alone also find people willing to put in the extra hours - include middle-of-the-night treatment - at hospitals.

The problem is not new and there is already work being done to try to change and improve the way health services are delivered in the regions.

For example, the state government has announced it is offering up to 50 new scholarships worth $3000 each for junior doctors embarking on careers as rural generalists in regional and rural NSW.

This is by no means a total solution, but one of the many steps that will have to be taken to both revolutionise rural health care for the 21 century and provide career options for young doctors who might be tempted into other specialties that have traditionally been seen as much more prestigious.

In a big region like Murrumbidgee, it simply isn't feasible to keep bringing patients into centralised hospitals like Wagga Base when at least some of them could be easily and safely treated closer to their homes.