Scan that could have saved Joe's life flagged in hospital changes

It's been 18 months since Joe's death, and the Cootamundra community are providing feedback on plans for their hospital - including a proposed CT unit.

The one unit would "meet local demand" to the hospital, which has a catchment population of 7700 people.

Susan and Steve Ginty lost their 40-year-old son Joe after he suffered a head injury from falling off his bike in Cootamundra in November 2023.

"Now that the hospital has a history of losing a patient to a head injury, isn't that reason enough to install a CT scan," Ms Ginty said.

"A CT scan in Cootamundra would be essential to prevent death from a head injury."

The pair said they are continuing to grieve the passing of their "young and healthy" son, who had moved from Sydney to Cootamundra three weeks before his death.

"The health care system is there to protect you, to look after you, duty of care, and unfortunately that just didn't happen," Ms Ginty said.

"He was picked up by ambulance, he was taken to the hospital, he was in those two places of care and he slipped through.

"How he slipped through, why he slipped through, we will live with that for our whole lives."

The pair want a CT scan to be built at the local hospital but are also concerned about other rural hospitals that don't have the facilities.

Ms Ginty is a trained nurse and said if Joe had been in a metropolitan hospital, he would still be alive.

"As soon as he got to a hospital in a metropolitan area he would've had a CT scan, they would've seen that there was a haemorrhage," she said.

"There would've been treatment, straight away, I know he could've survived."

The MLHD consulted the Cootamundra community and stakeholders to prepare the 115-page service plan which includes a proposal to add one CT unit to the facility.

The MLHD told The Daily Advertiser that it "extends its deepest condolences to Mr Ginty's loved ones and listened to the concerns they raised".

"NSW has a highly networked health system which allows patients to be redirected to other hospitals where necessary to provide the most appropriate and timely diagnosis, treatment and care," a MLHD spokesperson said.

"As a part of its ongoing health service planning process MLHD regularly reviews the needs of individual communities to ensure our facilities are providing care which best meets their needs."

More than 850 members of the community shared feedback to be considered for the draft plan.

A local CT unit in Cootamundra was identified as a service the community wants, and the plan said a unit has the "potential for viability".

"Some of main themes to come out of the stakeholder engagement were access to primary care services, access to specialists, ageing and chronic illness, travel, and cost of services," chief executive Jill Ludford said.

The draft plan said that CT service demand increased by 8.6 per cent from 2022 to 2023, with almost 800 Cootamundra residents receiving a scan last year.

"A CT unit is seen as gold standard now for patient diagnostic imaging, and with the ageing population and lack of public transport, this service needs to be available locally," the draft plan said.

The plan is on display for the public to review give feedback until June 23.

MLHD will give a presentation about the draft plan in Cootamundra on Tuesday, May 28 in the Alby Schultz meeting room at council from 5.45pm to 6.45pm.