Better Border Health slams Albury Wodonga Health for "careless PR spin" amid "crisis"

After suspending elective surgeries from October 4 to October 6 to prioritise urgent care, Albury Wodonga Health said it "returned to business as usual", only to be back in the same position a week later.

Better Border Health said it had no confidence in the master planning process and labelled Albury Wodonga Health's recent messaging as "careless PR spin" for what should be considered a "crisis".

"It should not be 'business as usual'," a Better Border Health Facebook post read.

"Better Border Health has staff from Albury Wodonga Health confidentially reaching out to us. We know they are gagged.

"Even though they remain dedicated to their work, they are really hurting. Every day they turn up with severe bed shortages.

"Even the most dedicated have a threshold."

Australian Paramedics Association NSW revealed some patients were waiting for care for more than five hours on Wednesday, October 11, as ambulances were unable to transfer them to a bed in the emergency department.

It was described by one member as "Groundhog Day".

"This crisis needs addressing now, not to mention ongoing cancellation of non-urgent surgery," an Australian Paramedics Association NSW post read.

A code yellow declaration has not been made.

Albury Wodonga Health most recently operated under those conditions in April.

"The dedicated and hard-working staff at Albury Wodonga Health continue to support our community every day," Albury Wodonga Health acting chief executive Lucie Shanahan said.

"Our surgical services teams are working diligently to decrease the surgery wait list following the once-in-100-year pandemic.

"Albury Wodonga Health has rolled out our patient support unit that is helping staff to rapidly assess and support people on the waiting list by making proactive contact with long wait listed patients, and reviewing the suitability of non-surgical treatment pathways in conjunction with local GPs and allied health professionals.

"To help reduce the wait time in our emergency department, we encourage community members who do not require urgent care to access the Wodonga Priority Primary Care Centre, Border Urgent Care Centre or the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department."

Myrtleford resident Joanne Green's husband required urgent care when he was struggling to breathe on August 25, but he was forced to wait five hours to see a doctor in Albury.

Mrs Green initially went to Myrtleford, before her husband was transferred to Wangaratta hospital and then Albury for an endoscopy procedure.

"This is going to kill people if it hasn't already," she said.

"There were no beds available and people on stretchers were just lining the hall.

"The ambulance people were with him the whole time. They're not available to attend emergency situations because they're stuck in the hospital waiting for people to be properly admitted.

"They're in charge of that person until they've done the handover, which means they could be off the street for over six hours a day."

Better Border Health said consequences of political decisions to redevelop Albury hospital would be felt for decades.

The upcoming release of the Albury Wodonga Regional Hospital master plan is the responsibility of NSW Health Infrastructure and Albury Wodonga Health said it looked forward to its long-awaited release.

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