A 73-year-old Rutherford man said his experience at Maitland Hospital was "absolutely dreadful", after he was "mucked about" for three days over a serious leg injury.
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Peter Hayes went to the emergency department on Monday, on the advice of his GP, seeking treatment for the leg.
At the hospital, he was told the leg needed urgent surgery.
Then after three days of waiting, he was allegedly told to "go to the private sector and get it done".
The injury was causing him a lot of pain.
"I had a slip on the back step at home, hit the side of my leg, tore a muscle and it caused a hematoma," Mr Hayes said.
"It needed to be drained in fear of blood clots."
An orthopaedic registrar saw him at Maitland Hospital initially, after a wait of about five hours in emergency.
"He took a photo and wrote a few things down and said it needs attention, I'll go see the team," he said.
"He came back and said we think it needs attention today."
The registrar returned about 45 minutes later and said "we can't do it today, we haven't got a bed".
"He said come in at 7am on Tuesday and we'll do it then," Mr Hayes said.
"On the way home I received a call to say don't come at 7am, we'll be in contact with you but stay fasting from midnight, which I did."
After several more changes in the plans for surgery, he was told to fast again from midnight to be ready for Wednesday.
"On Wednesday morning, I got a phone call from the hospital about 8.30am to say it's not on yet and they'd call later."
He followed the hospital's advice and presented after lunch.
He was again told there was no bed available, but this changed after an hour and he was admitted.
A surgeon then examined Mr Hayes' leg and said he could "maybe get it done next week".
He said someone at the hospital told him that "the best thing I could do was go to the private sector and get it done".
"I got a bit cranky and said the best thing you can do is let me out of here. So I packed up and left."
He then sought care through the private sector and will have the operation on Monday.
He received a call from Maitland Hospital on Thursday, which made him think "they're trying to deny telling me the surgery was needed last Monday."
The Newcastle Herald asked Hunter New England Health if Maitland Hospital agreed that Mr Hayes definitely needed surgery last Monday.
The Herald also asked why Mr Hayes had experienced delays with his required surgery, but the health district declined to comment.
Mr Hayes said the pain in his leg was "fairly high".
"I had to go back to the GP on Thursday and get more painkillers," he said.
Mr Hayes has had private health insurance for years and hadn't used a public hospital before.
"Something has got to be done about the state our hospitals are in," he said.
