The two main hospitals have now been privatised, run by the same people. This has led to a contraction of services. There is now no dental service in town for health care card holders. There is a waiting list of 12,000 for dental care but only one dentist who is only available for emergencies. There has been no increase in mental health beds in local hospitals in spite of the increased population in recent years.
Mental health is an increasing problem but the response is lagging far behind.
One person described a particular medical problem. The person suffers renal cholic and had to have kidney stones removed. This person needed to see a renal specialist but the specialist only visits from Newcastle and the patient had to wait 7 weeks to get an appointment, only to be told before then that the doctor would not be returning to the town but would refer the patient to another specialist. The costs were enormous and the patient could not afford to pay for all the tests the doctor wanted done. Doctors pass patients round and round each other.