Thirty-two per cent of people had to wait longer than four hours for treatment at Maitland Hospital’s emergency department between April and June this year, according to the latest public hospital performance report.

The Mercury does not suggest that this statistic is the result of Maitland’s hard-working doctors, nurses and other medical staff, who do a great job of helping people in need.

It’s a question of resources and facilities. It’s no secret that Maitland’s population is rapidly rising.

The state government’s commitment to build bigger and better public health services in the region shows that the decision-makers in Macquarie Street have identified the needs of our growing population.

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Yet, the question of when work will begin on the Lower Hunter hospital at Metford is still a mystery.

Fairfax Media reported recently that the organisation remediating the site believes it will still be a matter of years until construction can begin.

But the government insists it will get to work before the next election, in 2019. Its $5.6 million commitment earlier this year, which will partly be used to increase the number of acute care beds at Maitland Hospital to relieve pressure on the ED, is a step in the right direction.

However the reality is that, with Maitland’s population increasing by the day, it’s unlikely that the problem of pressure on health services is going to solve itself.

The new figures published in the Mercury today are just another reason many in the Maitland community are  eager to know when their new hospital will be built.