According to the latest figures from the Bureau of Health Information, local waiting times for ear, nose and throat surgeries are the worst, with Bathurst patients now facing a nine-month wait.

Surely this is not good.

This region is fortunate to have a beautiful new hospital but that means little if patients cannot get in it to have their surgery done.

But nobody doubts the hard work and dedication of the staff who work at the hospital. Rather, this can only be a funding problem.

We know the health budget is not a bottomless pit but it is hard to see how a nine-month wait for what are now routine surgeries can be allowed to happen in this state in 2014.

And it is hard to believe the issue is that the specialists who perform the surgeries simply don’t exist. It is much easier to believe they do not want to work in Bathurst, or are not being encouraged to do so.

The reality is that many people who read this morning’s report will come to the same conclusion: that Bathurst remains the poor cousin when it comes to Central West health services.

A review of health services some years back determined that regional hospitals should each have their own areas of specialty rather than trying to be all things to all people.

It is a sound strategy that recognises not every hospital can have specialists in every area. But something seems to have been lost in the execution of the strategy.

More and more patients are being transported to Orange for treatment but we do not see the same happening in reverse.

If Bathurst is better equipped than Orange for certain treatments then it is time that information is shared with the public.

Because until that happens – and for as long as local waiting lists continue to grow – Bathurst people have every reason to be concerned about the future of our hospital.