Dr Narayanan Jayachandran says official reports should be taken with “a pinch of salt”. Photo: St Vincent’s Private Community Hospital Griffith/Facebook.
The latest Bureau of Health Information (BHI) Healthcare Quarterly Report shows Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) hospitals have continued to produce “strong results” in treating patients quickly, though some have expressed scepticism at the data.
According to the report, more than eight in 10 patients (80.6 per cent) started their treatment on time, which puts MLHD well above the state average (67 per cent) and is the second-best result in the state.
Dr Narayanan Jayachandran, a veteran surgeon from Griffith, said it was best to take these official reports with “a pinch of salt” and to “hold fire” until the new hospital in Griffith was unveiled at the end of June.
“One thing you should have learned by now is that everybody will always put out flowery stuff, but there’s always problems as far as Griffith is concerned,” he said.
“I can only speak about Griffith. And we’ve got a new hospital, which is going to be commissioned by the end of this month.
“We’ve already had several meetings about the necessary staffing and all that we need and require, and unfortunately for us, they’ve not actually said yes to anything we have asked for.”
NSW Nurses & Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) general secretary Shaye Candish said despite some changes to BHI reporting, the data highlighted systemic issues hospital staff continued to navigate while trying to care for their community.
“Four local health districts continued to exceed the state average for patients leaving their EDs without or before completing treatment, after waiting more than three hours for emergency care,” Ms Candish said.
“The ongoing need for ratios of one nurse to three patients in our EDs is paramount. Work has begun addressing these staffing levels, but there is still a way to go to implement this important health policy in full.
“What should happen, that all remains to be seen when the hospital opens, what services are actually going to be available.”
Dr Jayachandran said more would be known when the new Griffith hospital opened.
“As far as these official reports and all, we were always going to take it with a pinch of salt,” he said.
Another source within the hospital told Region that fast response rates in the ED were on the back of staff working excessive overtime. Over the past two years, staff have staged several walkouts to protest against what they see as poor pay, conditions and staff shortages.
Region asked MLHD how it responded to concerns about pay, work conditions and staffing levels, and whether any steps were taken to address the industrial actions taken by staff.
We also asked how many unfulfilled staff vacancies were at Wagga and Griffith hospitals, how many patients waited in the ED for more than two hours, and whether any left before receiving treatment.
MLHD did not respond to any of our questions and put out a two-page statement highlighting the number of patients in the ED, investments from the Minns Labor Government and programs that seek to support essential workers and their families when they relocate.
“All patients are seen and triaged on arrival at MLHD’s ED and the most seriously unwell patients are treated first,” an MLHD spokesperson said.
“During busy times, people with less-urgent conditions can experience longer wait times when there are large numbers of seriously unwell patients being prioritised for emergency care.
“MLHD continues to invest in strategies to improve the timeliness for patients presenting to EDs.
“The Rapid Access Clinic (RAC) at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital is providing an alternative destination for assessment and treatment for many patients who would previously have presented to the emergency department.
“Attracting and retaining healthcare staff in rural and regional areas is a long-standing challenge faced by all state and territory health systems across Australia.
“MLHD is grateful to the hard work of our highly skilled staff, who are dedicated to providing the best possible care to our patients.”
The report (January to March 2025) shows that more than three-quarters of 1922 planned surgeries (78.1 per cent) were performed on time, a 3.2 per cent improvement from the same quarter in 2024, including all (100 per cent) urgent surgeries.
There were 39,525 emergency attendances to the district’s EDs, a decrease of 2.9 per cent, or 1185 fewer attendances, compared with the same quarter in 2024.
