Katherine Ingwersen attended hospital at about 1.30pm Tuesday with a severely swollen leg, thinking she might have a blood clot.

X-rays at the hospital discovered the leg was broken, with the injury thought to have occurred on Sunday.

Ms Ingwersen said it took some time to determine whether or not she would need surgery, and on Thursday morning she was informed that she would need to undergo an operation.

However, in a tale far too common, it could not be done in Bathurst.

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She would have to be operated on in Orange, but the hospital had no free beds.

Ms Ingwersen was left in Limbo and, despite being transported to Orange on Friday morning, that afternoon she was still waiting for surgery to be scheduled.

She said the system was broken and had to be fixed.

"The system needs to be improved. People with broken limbs shouldn't be transported to hospital 45 kilometres away with all the jostling," Ms Ingwersen said.

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While she has slammed the hospital system, she praised the staff who have assisted her during her stay.

"I have no complaints about the staff. They are fantastic," she said.

A Western NSW Local Health District spokesperson said "arrangements were immediately commenced" to transfer her to Orange Hospital, "the closest major trauma centre", after it was concluded she needed surgery.

"When it is necessary to transfer a patient, every effort is made to do so as quickly as possible and all acute orthopaedic surgeries are undertaken according to clinical priority," the spokesperson said.

"Where surgery isn't required immediately, patients are cared for in the most appropriate available setting until their surgery can take place.

"We regret any discomfort this patient experienced and will undertake to contact the patient to discuss their experience."

Referring to the most recent Bureau of Health Information Healthcare quarterly report, the spokesperson said that more than 85 per cent of patients in the Bathurst hospital emergency department begin treatment on time and 100 per cent of all urgent surgical procedures are performed on time.

Ms Ingwersen's story has angered the Bathurst Health Services Action Group, with spokesperson Warren Aubin saying it's just another example of how the hospital services are falling short.

"This just goes to show why Bathurst needs, has to have, better service here. With a 24/7 orthopaedic service, this lady would have been looked at last Tuesday probably," he said.

"... It's just a ludicrous situation we find ourselves in, that this poor woman has been put through this rotten system and she's still got no result."

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