OVER the last weeks you have published several stories that put our public hospital in a negative light.
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They included stories about increased waiting times, some patients having to go to Orange for fairly basic treatments and, recently, reports of bullying among staff.
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In addition to these articles, some years ago a family member had a poor experience at the hospital both in quality of treatment and level of care received, so I certainly did not have a positive viewpoint about it.
I would like to recount my positive experiences, however, because I have had to go to the Bathurst Emergency Department on five separate occasions this year and have received excellent and prompt treatment each time.
These visits were at various times of the day or night and have mainly involved two entirely different conditions and, although not life-threatening at the time, I was in extreme discomfort and believe they could have become much more serious without efficient management.
The young doctors in Emergency were often temporary or just locums, but I was greatly impressed each time with their knowledge and expertise.
The nursing staff were mainly local, as there were many familiar faces. Except for just one nurse on one occasion, who was rigid, seemed uncaring and dictatorial (just like the nurses we heard about 30 to 40 years ago), all the others were efficient, had high skill levels, were attentive and showed great empathy.
On two occasions, I was flown down to Sydney hospitals for further specialist treatment, but this was just because these services were not available in Bathurst.
At no stage, however, did I feel the standard of overall care was superior in either the private or public hospitals in Sydney.
So although our health services are always chronically understaffed and underfunded, I would advise anyone, whether they have private insurance or not, that if they have a genuine emergency they should go straight to the Bathurst Emergency Department and they will receive excellent treatment.
