Member for Maitland Jenny Aitchison MP is calling on Lower Hunter residents to tell the NSW Parliament's Rural Health Inquiry about their experiences in Maitland Hospital's Emergency Department (ED) as new figures reveal a worsening, systemic healthcare crisis in the region, she said.
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Bureau of Health Information (BHI) figures show that from July to September patients who attended Maitland Hospital's ED experienced the longest wait times of any at hospitals in the Hunter New England Lower Health District.
"One in 10 patients who attended the Maitland ED waited almost nine hours, which was over an hour than the next-longest wait at the John Hunter Hospital," Ms Aitchison said.
"These are people who have come to their local hospital seeking emergency help. They are in an acute state of concern, illness or pain. But, due to the Berejiklian Government's chronic under-funding and mismanagement of our public health system, there's been no way for our hard-working nurses and doctors to see them more quickly."
More than 40 per cent of patients presenting to Maitland Hospital's emergency department spent more than four hours waiting to be seen in the ED.
"These Bureau of Health Information figures show that Maitland people are experiencing the longest emergency department wait times in the Hunter New England health district across all three metrics," Ms Aitchison said.
The NSW public health system is also straining under the waitlist for elective surgery, with BHI figures showing that, between July and September, more than 95,000 patients across the state were awaiting the call for their life-changing surgery.
"Year on year we've had an increase of 11.8 per cent of people waiting in our emergency departments," Ms Aitchison said. "These figures are the result of a decade of neglect and under-resourcing from the NSW Government. It's got to stop. Health outcomes should not be determined by postcodes - it's about equality, fairness and a fundamental right to healthcare."
Labor's Shadow Minister for Rural Health Kate Washington urged anyone with concerns about their treatment in the healthcare system to make a submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Rural and Regional Health.
"Submissions to the Parliamentary inquiry close on 13 December, so there is still time to raise your voice and share your story," Ms Washington said.
