Rural health inquiry: Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson said there's no easy fix to health crisis facing region

A spokesperson said the local health district would not comment on witness statements, including evidence heard in Gunnedah on Wednesday, as the inquiry continues to run its course.

Tamworth gastroenterologist Dr David Scott told the Gunnedah hearing there is currently three empty operating theatres at Tamworth hospital due to lack of funding, as the facility struggles to cope with added pressure due to a critical shortage of health staff in Gunnedah and surrounding towns.

The panel heard multiple horror stories including a Gunnedah mother who waited five hours at the local hospital before her son with type 1 diabetes who had come down with gastro was finally transferred to Tamworth to gain proper treatment.

An emotional Emma Priest said her now eight-year-old boy waited for hours and had thrown up five times before she demanded he be put on fluids. He was then transferred to Tamworth via ambulance.

"It's like going into a pet store thinking that you're going to buy dog food and they don't sell it. Gunnedah doesn't know how to deal with type 1s, there's no knowledge," she said.

Read also:

The inquiry also heard from a "burnt out" Boggabri Hospital Manager, who said at times there is only two nurses on for 16 residents, an emergency department with no doctor, junior doctors unsupervised and tea ladies attending to patients.

Asked about the inquiry on Thursday, Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson told The Leader while the government is "good at building new hospitals and facilities" it needs to get better at "recruiting and retaining health professionals in the bush".

"There is not enough focus from organisations on this that I believe have a role to play in our area," he said.

"I don't believe we should be classed as second class citizens just because we choose to live where we are so I welcome the rural health inquiry and I look forward to the recommendations that will no doubt come from it."

He also said there was "a lot of work going on behind the scenes" to deal with emergency situations that have come as a result of the crisis, but said in the longer term, it wasn't an easy fix.

"Only this morning I was talking to doctors about what we need to do to get more GPs in Gunnedah," he said. "It's a continuous body of work."

Frequent conversations between Hunter New England Health and the state government are ongoing, but "health continues to be a challenge", he said.

The inquiry sat in Lismore on Thursday.

Love agricultural news? Sign up for The Land's free daily newsletter