NSW-Victoria border restrictions putting lives at risk, doctors say in open letter to NSW Government
Doctors are warning border restrictions will inevitably result in someone dying, with several near misses this week.
Key points:
- Border restrictions have been in place for two weeks, but were toughened on Tuesday night
- There is no emergency lane, leading to delays for ambulances and medical staff
- Emergency surgery, ICU, and paediatric services are based in Albury on the NSW side of the border
In an open letter provided to the NSW Government on Friday, senior doctors from the border region said there was a distinct lack of regard for vital border health services.
"Here in Albury Wodonga we are also facing the very real threat of an entirely preventable tragedy if patients cannot receive timely and appropriate emergency medical care due to border delays," the letter said.
In one example, a child known to the paediatric unit with congenital anomalies and special needs was choking on the side of the road while waiting in the border queue.
A doctor in the queue saw the mother and child in distress and went to assist, but it took another 30 minutes before they could pass through and get to emergency.
'Patients' lives at risk'
Oncologist Craig Underhill is one of the doctors behind the letter and said ambulances and hospital transport vehicles have been forced to go to the back of the queue and wait for up to an hour.
The doctors are calling for an emergency lane to be put in place urgently.
"Our emergency surgery, ICU, and paediatric services are based in Albury. There are no practical alternative services nearby in Victoria," Dr Underhill said.
"With delays in peak times of up to an hour, patients' lives are at risk."
Dr Underhill said the region was resilient but border communities were suffering.
"We had the drought, I had patients who walked off farms, we had the bushfires, we had people lose their houses. We had people coming from evacuation centres to have doses of chemotherapy," he said.
"Now we have a large number of health services severely impacted. So this is like putting a sword through the heart of these communities."
NSW Health acknowledges difficulties
The ABC understands representatives from NSW did not show up to a meeting called on Thursday between health services and the two state governments.
The doctors are also calling for exemptions for health workers, with medical staff who live in NSW but work in Victorian hospitals being forced to stay home.
North East Health Wangaratta is facing its third day in a row without 80 of its frontline medical staff.
NSW Health told the ABC that meetings late this week between the two governments and their agencies were aimed at "protocols and mechanisms to facilitate health care workers crossing the border."
Albury-Wodonga Health said it continued to meet regularly with NSW Health to resolve the issues impacting the delivery of health care to communities.
Carers unable to cross
Carers of terminally ill loved ones are also being caught up in the chaos, with one Victorian woman fearing her mother will die before she can get a permit to get into New South Wales to continue to help look after her.
Katie Donaldson lives on the Victorian side of the border and cares for her mother in NSW who has a terminal illness.
A week after she applied for a permit to cross the border she finally got a call from NSW Health.
"They called me asking if my Mum was going to die in the next two weeks, that was their question," Ms Donaldson said.
"You can imagine how stressful that was for me to hear, that while I am trying to care for my mum asking if she going to die in the next two weeks."
Ms Donaldson said NSW Health later sent police to her parents' home to check that her mother was in fact terminally ill.
"I'm so worried my mum will die and I won't be there. That's just terrifying to me."