Wagga's hospital system 'not pressured' to cover NSW rural health shortfalls: inquiry MLC Wes Fang

NSW Parliament this week released the report from an inquiry into health outcomes and access to health and hospital services in rural, regional and remote NSW.

The inquiry found a "situation that can and should not be seen as acceptable" after hearing "repeatedly about individuals and families let down by the health system".

"This evidence is by no means a reflection on the NSW Health staff working tirelessly in challenging circumstances; rather it is an indictment of the system," the report's foreword stated.

Some of that evidence included testimony from a woman who was forced to have her husband drive her 100 kilometres to Wagga for emergency treatment as her nearby health service could not help her.

A nurse from Cootamundra told the inquiry that women choosing to give birth locally are often transferred to Young or Wagga at the last minute due to little or no midwifery coverage, which increases their levels of stress and did not accord with "woman-centred care".

Wagga-based Nationals MLC Wes Fang is a member of the Health Portfolio Committee that produced the report and spent the past two years in hearings about rural and remote healthcare.

"I don't think [patient transfer] necessarily puts more pressure on Wagga; it's there and is what is expected of it," Mr Fang said.

"We have heard of places where maternity services that are more slightly complex than standard deliveries can be managed locally but if it comes down to a child that is at risk, sometimes it is better to transport the mother to a tertiary centre where there is that care available and a neonatal intensive care unit."

Mr Fang said decisions on moving a patient about to give birth were a "balancing act" of patient care versus convenience and were best left to medical professionals.

The Murrumbidgee Local Health District said it did not have any comment at this time in response to the report's recommendations aimed at all local health districts.

Mr Fang said the system of determining which emergency patients would be taken care of at their nearby services or transferred to Wagga or Sydney hospitals was "reasonably good".

"Wagga is in some ways geared up to receive those more severe accident-type patients as it is a referral hospital and I don't think that is going to put a lot of pressure on," Mr Fang said.

NSW Farmers said in response to the report that people in regional, rural and remote areas had complained for years about having to travel hours for medical services.

The government's formal response to the report is due in coming months.

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