Two items in today's Illawarra Mercury tell conflicting stories. One celebrates the fact that fifty newly minted intern doctors will commence walking the wards of Wollongong hospital, lauding the success of our new school of nursing.
The other announces that patients accessing the emergency facilities at Bulli hospital will be seen by a nurse - and directed to Wollongong hospital emergency department. The closure is blamed on the " doctor shortage ".
So the health authorities expect us to believe that Bulli - a functioning hospital with wards full of patients - has no doctor that can be spared to see people needing emergency treatment.
This goes with the direction imposed on our ambulance paramedics that all admissions will be taken to Wollongong hospital - no matter how minor the injury - where they will join the growing queue and be forced to wait hours for treatment.
Common sense should prevail. If minor matters are diverted to Bulli hospital it relieves the pressure on Wollongong and decreases the incidence of " ambulance block " - and the " Ambos " are people trained to make that sort of decision.
It seems that the government is hell bent in closing Bulli - just as it closed Port Kembla hospital - and eventually intends to create a secondary " medical clinic " that will treat minor ambulance presentation somewhere on " hospital hill " - in central Wollongong.
The facilities exist and are in place to deliver graded emergency treatment if Bulli emergency department is allowed to function as the base for minor problems, ranging from sprained ankles to cuts and bruises. All it would take is for hospital administration to take a reasonable overview - restore decision making to ambulance crews - and make sure there is a doctor rostered for duty at Bulli emergency department.
It seems that this is low on the priority list !
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