Several patients have claimed on social media this week they were told by nursing staff no-one was able to see them.

However, hospital management refuted those claims, saying there was a doctor available.

Sarah-Jane De La Motte of Bega took her two-year-old daughter to the hospital around 10pm on the night as she was “screaming in pain”. 

There, she saw two young men yelling for help at the doors because a father of one of them, in a nearby car, was having trouble breathing.

They were all let into the building, but Ms De La Motte was told by the triage nurse the doctor who was supposed to be on the shift had been called away for personal reasons and there would be no doctor to see them until the morning. 

She was told her daughter could stay overnight for observation and if her condition worsened she could be flown to another hospital. 

“The triage nurse was lovely and helped me as much as she could,” Ms De La Motte said.

She said a man appeared to help the patient who was having trouble breathing and she thought she heard him say he was a doctor, but decided as her daughter was not in a life-threatening state she would take her home. 

Ms De La Motte’s experience was echoed by commentators on the Bega District News’ Facebook page.

Brianna Carroll said her partner went to the emergency department on Thursday morning and was told the doctor did not get in until 8am.

Kathy Fox said on Wednesday evening she was waiting in the emergency department with her husband and that an announcement was made by the triage nurse that it would be “highly unlikely” anyone would be seen that night, as there was only one doctor for the early evening and he was seeing emergency ambulance patients. 

Instead of waiting, her husband had his badly lacerated hand sutured on Thursday at a GP practice, she said. 

“The triage nurse was extremely compassionate and apologetic for the lack of staff,” Ms Fox said.  

“We feel this is an appalling situation for a new regional hospital. 

“The management, not the nursing or medical staff, have a lot to answer.”

However, Bega Valley Health Service general manager Heather Austin was adamant there was a doctor at the department overnight, a replacement who had been found after the one originally booked for the shift was urgently called away due to a personal issue.

“I will follow up with the staff to ascertain what was said and how it was interpreted,” she said.  

“But I can assure people that there was a doctor on duty.

“Not only was there a doctor, there is a full suite of specialists on call as required, as there always is.” 

Other comments on Facebook were supportive of hospital staff and the difficult job they do, as well as highlighting the triage system can mean wait times are unavoidable.