Tenterfield hospital patient death, staffing issues to be discussed

Hunter New England Health has also expressed sympathy with the staff and family involved, after the incident while there was no doctor and only two nurses at the facility.

"We offer our sincere condolences to the family following the death of a critically ill patient who presented to Tenterfield Hospital over the weekend," a spokesperson for the local health district said.

"We will continue to provide support to them and our staff during this time."

The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association will be "talking to our members and providing them with what support we can", general secretary Brett Holmes.

It will also keep lobbying the local health district, the department and the minister for "a minimum level of staffing ... to properly respond to these sorts of emergencies": at least three nurses per shift.

"The district says, 'Well, it comes down to not enough money from the government'. But it's the question of: Well, what does it take to prove that you really should be properly staffing these small facilities?" he said.

Read also:

"Because the unexpected does happen - thankfully not every night - but when it does happen, there are consequences."

However, the HNEH spokesperson said "it would be premature to pre-empt the findings of the root cause analysis (RCA) and any future coronial investigation".

"Tenterfield Hospital had highly skilled nursing staff on call on the weekend who are qualified to manage emergency presentations and were supported by emergency department staff at Tamworth and Armidale hospitals."

Paramedics were also called in to work on the patient in the early hours of Sunday.

But a NSW Ambulance document says the protocol, called CERS Assist, "is not intended as a substitute for existing or planned medical or nursing services".

Mr Holmes said paramedics "did a great job when they got there" but there was always "a gap in time" when other resources had to be called in.

He said previously it was possible the patient would still have died even with a doctor at the hospital.

However, "it demonstrated the reason you need three nurses on duty: trying to manage a critical incident with two nurses, particularly when it progresses to cardiac arrest, is extraordinarily difficult".

"Even when you might have a doctor on the phone, you need more than two pairs of hands to conduct an advanced resuscitation," he said.

"The fact that the district knew that there was no doctor and they did not or could not add additional nursing staff to give that extra support is very disappointing."