The six-hour wait a Malua Bay couple endured in Canberra Hospital recently is the latest example of why South Coast residents should not have to drive over the “hill” for surgery.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The older couple was so upset at the wait, and the effect it had on Bruce Noyce’s condition, they itemised everything that went wrong in a long letter to the Bay Post/Moruya Examiner.
No bad language, no personal attacks: just a detailed list of a tiring, painful, unnecessarily long wait for routine surgery.
Mr Noyce was recovering from an attack of kidney stones, which had required, in a previous procedure, the insertion of a stent.
The couple had returned to Canberra to have this stent removed.
In a perfect world, this kind of surgery would be performed with minimal waiting time and patients could see their trip to Canberra as truly a day trip.
In the real world, patients and their carers are often forced to remain in Canberra overnight, with all the inconvenience, logistics and cost associated with that.
Yes, subsidies are available, but the upheaval is a pain, in anyone’s book.
Bruce and Toni Noyce make the point that if patients had a clearer understanding of how their day would unfold, they could make the necessary arrangements, with less stress.
Mr Noyce suffers the chronic health condition diabetes and this, coupled with the complications of the stent, made his day miserable.
No-one is blaming hard-working and over-extended health professionals for this situation.
Canberra Hospital is expected to take the overflow of under-resourced regional hospitals and health services, such as in the Eurobodalla.
On busy days, something is going to give, and Mr Noyce found himself at the business end of that sad fact.
Only proper resourcing of regional hospitals will fix his complaint.
However. the couple has a point when they ask for better communication from hospital staff.
Knowing what is going on can make even a bitter pill a little more palatable.