Save Our Hospital Inc winds up activity and gives money to Pambula Auxiliary

SOHI was formed December 7, 2009 and was born out of the Save Pambula Hospital Action Group.

As maternity services disappeared the group took to the streets to protest.

A war of activism, and words, raged for several years but then in 2014 attention turned to a new front, the emergency department (ED) as it was confirmed a committee had discussed the number of hospital bedsthat would continue into the future and ED.

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It's a battle that has waxed and waned over the last nine years with varying levels of success in the instigation of a nurse practitioner-led Assessment and Treatment Centre (ATC) where patients could walk in and receive treatment.

The ATC model of care was introduced in 2016 but got off to a very bumpy start with patients being turned away and unable to be treated. The situation saw SNSWLHD apologise to a patient and review the service.

In late 2018 the nurse practitioner model was announced and the following year became permanent.

"Following the successful introduction of the nurse practitioner model, the district will continue to have a nurse practitioner at Pambula ATC, with the service open seven days a week," SNSWLHD said in July 2019.

But in November 2021 came the news the two nurse practitioners at the ATC were being moved to South East Regional Hospital's (SERH) emergency department.

At the time Southern NSW Local Health District (SNSWLHD) maintained there would be no change to the service levels offered at Pambula Hospital, but the news left locals concerned about treatment levels, particularly during the busy holiday season.

However, SNSWLHD said functions that only nurse practitioners or doctors could undertake, such as writing prescriptions or referrals, could be done remotely and that nurses would be able to suture wounds.

On several occasions there had been recognition of the benefits in having the higher volume of category 4 and 5 patients seen close to where they were staying during holiday times, and not filling SERH's ED for minor injuries.

Now the organisation which fought so hard to save what it could in medical services for the southern part of the shire and those just across the border is winding up.

Long-term president of SOHI Sharon Tapscott said SOHI had for several years had a watching brief but no longer had a roll to play. The money that was left in the SOHI account - $2995 - was fittingly donated to the Pambula Auxiliary.

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