Tamworth hospital staff receive free lunch from volunteers

The banquet was organised by Rapid Relief Team (RRT) volunteers at the Tamworth hospital from 11.30am to 2.30pm on Friday September 29, with staff from all sections arriving for a lunchtime burger.

Dan Scott has been volunteering with RTT for the past six or seven years and has taken most of the day off from work to help serve burgers, coffee and tea to Tamworth hospital staff.

"I reckon everyone gets a bit of a buzz helping some else, it's a a universal thing," Mr Scott said.

"Especially these people, they've worked so hard through COVID. My mum was here just last week, so it means something to be able to give back.

"And, it's good to join a team like this and smash out a thousand burgers."

Local baker Josh Crelley from Bakers Delight had also worked tirelessly throughout the night to get 1000 freshly-baked bread rolls ready to donate for the barbecue.

Former Farrer Memorial Agricultural High student and now anaesthetist Dr Luke Anderson has worked at the hospital for about a year after completing his degree at Newcastle University and six years at John Hunter Hospital.

He said the best part about Tamworth hospital was the "tight knit community", with everyone looking out for each other and the five minute commute to work.

"It's been a testing time for not only the health community, but the world in general," Dr Anderson said. "So it's the little tokens of support and kindness like this that make it all worthwhile."

Clinical nurse educator Valinda Wesble mainly supports junior nurses from various units at the hospital and said the lack of staff meant they had to change the way they worked.

Ms Wesble said the barbecue was very much appreciated because working in healthcare can be tough and "soul destroying" sometimes.

"Everybody who served it was really friendly and they all had such big smiles on their faces and they were all really happy which is really lovely," Ms Wesble said.

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Dr Lauren Zawal finished her final year as a trainee doctor at Tamworth hospital in 2022 and decided to stay in the regional city, after completing her degree at the University of Newcastle where she is from.

"I had a really good time last year. There are a lot of educational opportunities, and if you show some initiative and get stuck-in, people give that attention back," Dr Zawal said about being a junior doctor in a regional city.

Dr Tun has worked at Tamworth hospital for the past two years, and said the recent flu season had been busy due to the number of people who had fallen ill.

"We're quite stretched in terms of both staff and resources. So it's really nice to get a thank you. I didn't know this was happening until I saw it," Dr Tun said.

Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson said the RRT team had done a fantastic job supporting communities in emergencies, "whether fire, flood, or thanking our nurses, doctors, and everybody who worked in the health system over COVID".

Nationwide in the six months to July 2023, there were about 149,989 lab-confirmed cases of Influenza A and or B and 134 deaths from the flu reported to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS).

And since the start of the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared pandemic in 2020 to March 31, 2023, a total 16,810 people have died in Australia with or from COVID-19, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data.

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