FROM the earliest days, when details of the new Maitland Hospital at Metford were fed down the line from NSW government planners to senior staff representatives, concerns were raised about the ability of the new facility to handle the expected substantial increase in demand for its services.
On one hand, it could be said that similar fears are held whenever a new hospital is opened: whatever is offered can always be improved upon, in the eyes of doctors, nurses, ambulance crews and ancillary workers - and their unions - who naturally enough want to see the maximum amount of resources poured into their workplace.
Early concerns do sometimes fade away.
The new Calvary Mater at Waratah - built, controversially, under Labor as a private-public partnership - is a case in point.
It is acknowledged, too, that the shift of Maitland Hospital from the old timeworn buildings to the new state-of-the-art premises on the old Metford brickworks site was orchestrated well before the COVID pandemic put enormous strains on hospitals everywhere.
But even with these observations as cautions, the catalogue of problems outlined from a variety of sources to the Newcastle Herald's experienced health reporter, Anita Beaumont, are detailed, considered, and numerous.
In response - and while accepting that Hunter New England Health may not want to negotiate with unhappy staff in such a public fashion - the health service's account of the situation is somewhat generic.
To say, as the service has, that the new hospital has "not experienced a consistent increase in presentations" is of little consequence given it only opened in January.
What the staff are saying is that even at the existing levels of usage, the hospital is already "freakishly" busy.
Predictably, the health service is urging patience from the public, and expressing thanks to its staff for their "ongoing dedication during the pandemic".
But as we have heard at recent strikes and protest rallies by hospital and ambulance personnel, it's extra resources - including pay increases where appropriate - that those "on the front line" are after.
In the words of Health Services Union organiser Tracey Gaddelin, it's time for a budget that covers the services, not services to fit the budget.
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