Organiser, GP and visiting medical officer (VMO) for the hospital, Dr Danny Ryan, told the Guardian it was unfortunate that Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Health, Melinda Pavey MLC, had nothing new to add to the discussion.

“We had been led to believe she’d say more than she did,” Dr Ryan said.

“(MP) Andrew Stoner told us that we could expect at least $10 million and maybe more from the $50 million pool to be shared between six Northern Region hospitals but we still have no public confirmation of this.

“Clearly, we are at the mercy of political timing with the March election and I am concerned that funds will instead flow to marginal seats.”

He said anything less than $15 million would be gut wrenching because that was the minimum needed to do anything meaningful with the hospital renovation.

“This hospital is 60 years old and well past its use-by date.

“The part that is least functional is the general ward, where there are not enough toilets, which makes nursing hard.

“It’s an old double-brick building which would be very hard to renovate - basically it needs a total rebuild.”

He said part of any money received would be used to create a services plan to ensure the hospital’s viability for the next 40 years.

There was however some good news to emerge - a few workforce concerns were partly addressed.

“When I first came here 25 years ago, we had 12 VMOs for the hospital, now it is down to five. We have had no new recruits for years and the workload has increased enormously - and finally the (Mid North Coast Local) Health District has acknowledged that we need help to attract new doctors.”

Dr Ryan said they were hoping there would be approval for the employment of junior VMOs.

“We want young doctors to do their training at the hospital because they might then either stay or return to the area later to settle down.

“If this does not happen, the district has said it will provide other doctors for support.”

He said serious nursing issues however had not been addressed.

“We have one registered nurse working alone in emergency at night - that person can call for help, however there is always a time lag ... this is absolutely not acceptable, it is an OH&S issue.

“The other problem is that pathology has been reduced and now staff are being asked to do bedside pathology testing.

“This is time consuming and with no extra staff to help, takes time out of their already fully committed patient care. Nurses need extra time to do this.”

Dr Ryan said the community would continue to lobby for hospital funding.

“Macksville Hospital is the only hospital on the North Coast that has no funds either promised or spent on maintenance in years.”

* Questions from the meeting have been forwarded to the Mid North Coast Local Health District by the Guardian. There had been no response at the time of going to press.