Narrabri maternity and operating theatre services
Hunter New England Health continues their efforts to recruit a locum anaesthetist to fill a short-term gap in service at Narrabri District Health Service. If this is unsuccessful, the health service will be implementing a short-term change to maternity and operating theatre services for the period of one week, to ensure patient safety and minimal disruption to patient care.
The on-call anaesthetist for Narrabri District Health Service will be taking leave for the week commencing Sunday 14 July, meaning if the recruitment efforts are unsuccessful, no anaesthetic services will be provided from the health service for this short period.
Hunter New England Health Cluster General Manager David Quirk said that while efforts made to recruit a locum GP with specialist anaesthetic skills will continue this week, if the service is unavailable, the week would be productively spent undertaking required preventative maintenance work to the Operating Theatre.
“If we are unable to find a locum to fill the gap, we will be using this opportunity to undertake a number of preventative maintenance tasks which would ordinarily impact on the use of the Operating Theatre at Narrabri District Health Service,” Mr Quirk said.
Hunter New England Health will put in contingencies and individual management plans for those people directly impacted by service if this occurs.
Women in labour or with obstetric complications are to continue to go to Narrabri District Health Service to be assessed by an on-call doctor or midwife, and if required, will then be transferred to Moree District Health Service or Tamworth Hospital by the safest means.
“It is imperative that women continue to come to Narrabri District Health Service if labor commences during this time,” Mr Quirk said.
“If a woman does require referral to Moree District Health Service or Tamworth Hospital, we will transfer the patient and newborn back to Narrabri District Health Service, once it’s safe to do so for both mother and baby,” he said.
Some surgery has been rescheduled or transferred to the nearest health service during this time. Hunter New England Health has contacted everyone who was booked for surgery to discuss their arrangements for care.
Maternity and Operating Theatre services will return to normal on Monday 23 July and members of the community are reminded to always dial 000 in the event of an emergency.
Mr Quirk said representatives from Hunter New England Health, the Barwon Division of General Practice and a number of Narrabri General Practitioners met recently to network ideas and develop strategies for ongoing GP recruitment to the Narrabri region.
“We have proactively commenced the process of medical workforce planning for the stability and long-term future of Narrabri District Health Service. There are no plans to change the role of the local health service or the services offered by our clinicians,” said Mr Quirk.
“We understand the challenges these clinical shortages place on our existing staff and we’ll continue to work closely with staff and associations such as the Rural Doctors Association to ensure the care we provide is safe and appropriate. We also recognise the dedication of the nurses, midwives and doctors who continue to provide the best possible care for the Narrabri community.”
Contact: Nicole Fuller
Phone: (02) 6767 7136 or 0408 665 019