The people you meet waiting in the ED

I think I might have jinxed myself when I recently shared with reporter Lisa Tisdell that I had not seen inside the local hospital since moving back to the area early last year.

Now I can cross that off my "to-do" list.

After waking one morning with big red welts on my face, I soon experienced a degree of pain that came close to knocking childbirth off the top of my personal Top 10 list of excruciating moments.

I moaned and groaned for a couple of days while trying to figure out if I'd been bitten or had contracted some incurable flesh-eating bug. It got so painful that I ended up taking myself off to PMBH's Emergency Department with a fever and rock hard swelling that was engulfing my ear (slight exaggeration, but that's what it felt like).

Normally I dread ED's and navigating their never-ending queues for attention. My association with them is usually limited to when I'm writing stories about waiting times and ambulance ramping. But, when you're feeling miserable, and GPs are closed for the day, all that matters is finding relief.

I arrived on an evening that was at the start of the school holidays, and when hundreds of school-age rugby league players were in town for the Australian championships. Talk about bad timing.

But not only was I pleasantly surprised, I was impressed.

Sure, the waiting room was full of other sick and injured people, but our "processing" was steady and efficient. The receptionists and triage nurses were all pleasant and up for a joke. I even spotted the newly minted MP-turned-Dr Rob Oakeshott attending to patients.

Being one to chat, I struck up a conversation with a few other patients, including a gorgeous little boy named Theo who had got his pinky finger stuck in a door at day care. His songs and chitter chatter were just as infectious as my bright red bumps.

Then there was the teenage girl who busted her ankle while building a human pyramid with her friends. She had been the final piece in their puzzle. Several fellow sufferers joined me in laughing when she boasted that she'd at least made it to the peak.

One after another we filed in to see the clearly over-worked ED doctor, who patiently put up with an inquisitive me. I discovered that he'd seen a parade of holidaymakers already and been swamped by the student rugby league players, sporting all sort of injuries.

"They play hard", he told me.

Our conversation turned to politics and the lack of frontline GPs because, hey, I'm a journo and can't help asking. The stats he quoted were deeply worrying. The reason EDs are so packed is because "only 14%" of medical students choose general practice, he told me.

I haven't checked that figure but it's widely-known that the rebates for GPs are miniscule compared to the margin for specialists. And yet, they are the frontline of our health care system.

I left ED with a name for my affliction and a battle plan to get better. I also had a fresh determination to dig a little deeper into the local GP shortage.

Fortunately, I've recovered in time for a highly-anticipated road trip with my husband - in a Retro RV! If anything is going to scream "grey nomads", it's a baby blue reconditioned VW campervan with front bucket seats. If you spot us on the road, be sure to say Hi. And stay tuned for the trip review.

In the meantime, Ruby Pascoe will be driving the Macleay Argus

Cheers

Sue Stephenson

Editor, Macleay Argus