Lingard Private Hospital commits to $116 Million Redevelopment

 BY BEN COLLISON

In a boost to the Hunter regions health network, Lingard Private Hospital has committed to a $116 million redevelopment to its Mereweather hospital premises.

Already the largest private hospital in Newcastle, the redevelopment will double Lingard's bed capacity to 210 beds; in addition to providing new staff and office rooms. A medical clinic and 15 consultation rooms are planned for the new multi-story development.

Visiting the hospital will also be made easier with further parking spaces included in the redevelopment plans. A footbridge between the Lingard and Kingsland Buildings will be constructed enabling staff and patients to move between the expanding hospital premises.

Healthe Care, owners of Lingard in partnership with the State Government are inviting Hunter residents to provide their feedback on the proposal that will cater for the growing needs of the Hunter region.

New Urgent Care Clinic Announced for Cessnock

BY OLIVIA DILLON

A new Medicare Urgent Care Clinic has been announced for Cessnock. 

Expressions of Interest are now open for the clinic, which will provide bulk billed treatment for non-life threatening emergencies. 

It would be open seven days a week for extended hours, for residents seeking treatment outside hospital emergency rooms. 

It's hoped, the clinic will help take the pressure off Hospitals in Cessnock, Kurri Kurri, Maitland, and Singleton, as well as the John Hunter. 

Federal Member for Hunter Dan Repacholi, says Hunter residents should be able to access to top quality healthcare. 

"Ever since I started campaigning to try and win this election, that's what people have been telling me the most; how hard it is to get in to see a doctor, how hard it is to actually pay for appointments."

Expression of Interest submissions for the clinic will close on the 12th of April. 

GP Access After Hours set to reopen at the Mater

BY DAKOTA TAIT

The Federal Government has allocated $17 million over the next four years to restore GP Access After Hours services across the Hunter.

Operating hours at the Belmont Hospital, John Hunter Hospital, Maitland Hospital, and Toronto Polyclinic clinics will be restored, while a fifth clinic will reopen at the Mater Hospital.

The services will be bulk-billed, and it's hoped access will return to 2020-21 levels when the Mater clinic is fully operational.

Paterson MP Meryl Swanson, Shortland MP Pat Conroy, Health Minister Mark Butler, and Newcastle MP Sharon Claydon.

Labor MPs keen to build new trains in the Hunter

BY DAKOTA TAIT

Labor MPs are promising big things for the Hunter, with a swathe of policy announcements at the party's state conference over the weekend.

The Prime Minister has locked in a $500 million commitment to get started on a high-speed rail link from Sydney to Newcastle, including securing the corridor between the cities and across the Central Coast.

State Labor Leader Chris Minns also unveiled new plans to deliver a new fleet of trains, manufactured in New South Wales, if the party wins government next March. 

Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp says he's optimistic the Hunter will have a role to play.

"Newcastle's got a proven track record," he said. "We're very well-positioned to manufacture these fleets, so I'd love to see some local companies in the mix when tenders open."

"Labor's committed to local goods, local jobs, reviving local manufacturing, and this will be the signature piece running up to the election."

"Build the Tangaras here in New South Wales."

Mr Minns told the conference he was again further privatisation, and criticised the controversial commitment deeds restricting the Port of Newcastle from container traffic. 

There's hope, a commitment to recruit 1,200 new nurses and 500 new paramedics will help alleviate staff shortages in the healthcare sector, while a plan to convert 10,000 temporary teachers to full-time is hoped to do the same for Hunter schools struggling to find hands. 

"Insecure work makes it harder to get a mortgage or a car loan," Mr Crakanthorp said. "Hard to lay down roots in a community."

"Job security goes a really long way, and I know that 10,000 casuals and part-timers coming onto permanency will be a great incentive for those people to stay teaching and not look for other jobs."

New data reveals nearly one in four emergency patients leaving Maitland Hospital early

BY DAKOTA TAIT

The latest Bureau of Health Information data has revealed, almost a quarter of patients are leaving the Emergency Department at Maitland Hospital early.

The quarterly report found 24.91 percent of patients left without completing their treatment, not only the highest number in New South Wales, but a new record.

39.5 percent of patients who waited for treatment, spent more than four hours in the waiting room.

Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison says it's proof the health system is in crisis.

"I think it's just showing the lack of staffing in the system," she said. "We've got a really dire state of the health system in Maitland particularly."

"It's not fair on hardworking staff in those sections, and the nurses and the midwives. It's contributing to ramping with the ambulances."

"We're just seeing a huge increase in the number of people that are coming into the hospital over the last little while, with the new relocation, but we just haven't seen enough staff being able to get in there to do the work."

Across the state, 62.8 percent of all emergency patients started their treatment on time, and one in five who left early returned within three days.

The Nurses and Midwives Association has reiterated its calls for nurse-to-patient ratios in public hospitals, as well as action to ease the pressure on staff and ensure patient safety.

Ms Aitchison says the situation is "unacceptable".

"We're hearing, routinely, people waiting almost 24 hours to be seen," she said. "I've heard of a case of someone waiting on an emergency bed for 100 hours."

"Now that is just absolutely unacceptable, and really needs to be addressed."

Nurses raise alarm New Maitland Hospital could struggle to make accreditation

BY DAKOTA TAIT

New Maitland Hospital is undergoing accreditation this week, but it's feared issues around staffing and resourcing could mean the hospital will struggle to meet the standards.

The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care is examining eight standards, including clinical governance, infection control, communication for safety, and comprehensive care.

But staff have raised the alarm the audit doesn't take ongoing issues at the hospital into account when making a judgement.

Detailed outcomes of the audits are also not made public to allowed to be discussed with the media.

NSW Nurses and Midwives Association Branch Secretary Kathy Chapman says staff shouldn't have to pick up the slack.

"This is often where accountability is directed - to the nurses," Ms Chapman said. 

"We feel that it's just another opportunity for the Perrottet Government to tell our crippling health care system, our Maitland Hospital, to do better with less."

"We do shine our shoes to make things good."

It's understood, long wait times in the emergency department and outpatient clinics, surge capacity levels in wards, and heavy workloads have become the norm at the hospital.

Hunter New England Health has maintained demand for services has not increased since moving from the original Maitland Hospital to Metford, which only opened earlier this year.

Nurses insist, however, the catchment area has expanded without an appropriate increase to staffing.

Ms Chapman says it's very possible the hospital will fall short in a number of areas.

"I reckon it would be embarrassing, for a start," Ms Chapman said. 

"What does it tell our community? What have we been given? What resources haven't we been given to meet the needs of our community, our patients?"

"It's just really sad to watch every day how those needs aren't met."

Image credit: newmaitlandhospital.health.nsw.gov.au

Newcastle Professor Uncovers Sugar Secrets and Opens the Door to Diet Fruit

BY DAKOTA TAIT

A University of Newcastle researcher has collaborated with Chinese scientists to uncover the secrets of sugar in plants - opening the door to the possibility of creating 'diet fruit'.

Professor Yong-Ling Ruan at the University's School of Environmental and Life Sciences, spent seven years on the groundbreaking study, examining the how, why, and where of sugar distribution in plant cells.

The team identified the indicators which decided how much sugar was transported and stored in different parts of a plant, such as the leaves or the fruit.

"The research basically is to unlock some of the secrets about how this transport works together to determine how much sugar should be getting in, or not," Professor Ruan said.

"Knowing that can put us in a position to potentially manipulate those processes to either increase or decrease the sugar levels in the plant itself."

Zooming in on apples and tomatoes, the team discovered two types of sugar transporters which moved glucose around on a molecular level.

Professor Ruan said the research could help farmers improve their crop yields or even to develop special low sugar fruit for diabetics.

"We could manipulate the sugar levels in say, tomato fruit, or apple, or peach, or sugar cane, and increase the yield for farmers," Professor Ruan said.

"Or we could potentially reduce the levels of sugars but still maintain the sweetness, the taste, so that it's a so-called diet fruit."

Professor Ruan said the potential of the research in agriculture and industry was huge.

"For this particular research we used apples and tomatoes as a model system," Professor Ruan said.

"But I can envisage the same or similar mechanisms in peach, pear, or chili - you name it."

Elderly Man With Broken Hip Forced to Wait Six Hours for Ambulance

BY DAKOTA TAIT

Concerns about ambulance shortages have been raised after an elderly nursing home patient had to wait six hours for paramedics to arrive after suffering a broken hip.

Despite an announcement by the Health Minister in 2019 that 750 new paramedics and call centre staff would join the force over the next four years, critics say new recruits are not keeping up with the numbers leaving the industry.

Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery said there were only nine cars operating across the Lower Hunter on Friday night, despite the large population and size of the region.

"Paramedics are telling me that they are being stretched to breaking point, with many staff working multiple overtime shifts per week or being sent to cover staff shortages in other regions," Ms Hornery said.

"I think the community would be horrified to know that only nine ambulances are operating on a Friday night to cover such a large area and population."

The Australian Paramedics Association had also made calls late last year for NSW Ambulance to deliver more resources to the Hunter, with local crews forced to make up for shortages in areas such as Raymond Terrace and Kurri Kurri.

A NSW Ambulance spokesperson said the response to the nursing home patient had been appropriate given the high number of emergency calls in the region.