THE people of Bathurst have been urged to consider whether they need to use the hospital emergency department amid a busy winter and concerns about potential COVID cases in the city.
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The Western Advocate put anecdotal reports of long waits in the local emergency department to Western NSW Local Health District CEO Scott McLachlan.
"We're seeing an incredibly busy winter with a lot of crook people in our communities already," he said.
He said record numbers had been coming to the health district's emergency departments and "that has put some real pressure on making sure that patients get really timely care".
IN OTHER NEWS AROUND BATHURST:
"We've got some amazing clinicians in Bathurst, so I really do take my hat off to them, in the numbers of patients that we are seeing, and being able to provide the quality of care that they do," he said.
"We'll continue to apply more and more staff and resources where we need to.
"We have needed to make some changes to other support services in Bathurst to make sure that we can pay absolute attention to the emergency department and to patients needing admissions to beds."
Mr McLachlan appealed to the community to consider alternatives to the emergency department if that was practical and possible.
"I would say, particularly to people in Bathurst, if it's not an emergency, you don't need to come to the emergency department," he said.
"If you've got alternatives to receive care through your GP, through a pharmacy, or other ways in the community, then please, look for those options.
"Our health services, and particularly with COVID in the region, are a really precious resource.
"We want to make sure that we can protect all of the patients in our health services and particularly our staff.
"We know that they are going to be so crucial for us in being able to protect and support our communities with health issues."
