A story in The Guardian ‘Hanging vulnerable people out to dry’: Covid stretches rural Australian health services to breaking point – is a reminder of the need for increased investment in health services in regional, rural, and remote NSW. I gave evidence to the NSW Upper House Inquiry into Health Outcomes and Access to Health and Hospital Services In Rural, Regional And Remote NSW in my role as Australian Lawyer’s Alliance (ALA) spokesperson in December 2021. People outside of Sydney have less access to services, wait longer for services and have poorer health outcomes. This isn’t isolated to the issue of COVID-19 and testing. It spans every aspect of healthcare and is due to underinvestment in staff and other resources.
Jim and Pam’s story – COVID-19 test delays separate families and reduce patient care
The Guardian tells the story of Jim Goldsmith who has had no visitors in the long-stay section at Coonamble Multi-Purpose Service since before Christmas. His wife Pam contracted COVID-19 so was unable to visit. After her 10 day isolation period, she was cleared by NSW Health but needed to show a negative PCR test result to see Jim. She faced delays in accessing a test and getting results (she had to do the test twice and still hadn’t received results 12 days later).
Despite being critically ill, Jim still hasn’t had his booster either. Importantly, Pam’s visits are not just providing essential family contact to her lonely husband of 52 years – Pam had been helping the short-staffed service to feed and take care of him.
Investment in rural and regional health services will save lives and money
Sadly, Jim and Pam’s story is one of many stories that are not just a result of the complicating impacts of COVID.
We had many similar stories in the ALA submission to the NSW parliamentary inquiry – which I helped to draft. When I gave evidence to the Inquiry I didn’t have to recount those stories because they were in the submission, but also because I knew the parliamentarians had heard countless others during their hearings across NSW.
The ALA’s message to the Inquiry was that increased investment in health services in rural and regional NSW will prevent deaths and injuries caused by under-resourcing, lack of staff and systemic failures, and will reduce the burden of medical negligence claims.
Sadly, it is legal action and the cost of compensation, or the threat of legal action, that is often the catalyst for health services to change practices or invest in additional resources. Negligence cases and inquests involving avoidable deaths and serious injuries are too frequent in rural and regional areas.
However, we do not know the number of avoidable deaths and injuries due to inequitable health resourcing because meaningful data – including data by region – is not publicly available. Information accessed via the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 reveals that negligence claims cost the NSW government self-insurer Treasury Managed Fund $69 million during the two-year period from 1 October 2016 to 1 October 2018. Increased transparency in relation to data on death rates and adverse events would help patients make more informed decisions, and assist everyone to better understand the issues in regional NSW. Public access to this data by postcode – as is available in the United States and England – would help make governments, health agencies and health providers more accountable.
Publicly available data is just one of the points the ALA raised in evidence. We also spoke about: staffing as a key issue for access to healthcare – and the lack of staffing in country NSW; indigenous health issues; and the importance of reproductive health services which is not even in the Inquiry’s terms of reference. Our final point – more a plea – was for this Inquiry report to generate action. There have been many reports and inquiries before this one – it is time for action. You can read my opening statement to the Inquiry in full here.
The ALA submission makes 22 recommendations to address the inequitable health outcomes experienced by people living in rural and regional NSW. You can read the ALA submission here.
What can local people do to improve rural and regional healthcare?
Those people and community groups who made submissions and attended Inquiry hearings are to be congratulated and encouraged. I encourage you to lobby your local MP for action and keep sharing stories to keep up the pressure for more funding and meaningful reform.
