Greg Coleman talks hard and fast about Manning Hospital and NSW Ambulance Service.
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The Taree-Wingham Race Club chairman is insistent "it's not an issue with the staff". He commends the professionalism of NSW Ambulance Service paramedics and focuses his attention to the arrival of five ambulances at Bushland Drive Racecourse on May 23.
"I could see the fear on the faces of a couple of the jockeys when they were told they had to go to Port Macquarie. It was the fear of the unknown and not knowing why they had to go to Port Macquarie instead of Manning Hospital," Mr Coleman said.
"The response time was fabulous. The paramedics have protocols they have to follow and that is what I have issue with".
Mr Coleman and former Greater Taree City Council deputy mayor Alan Tickle will host a public meeting in June to focus community and political attention on the NSW Trauma Plan and its impact on Manning Hospital. The fight is on to change the plan to enable doctors and specialists at Manning Hospital to treat moderate to serious patient trauma.
"It's frightening to think that we cannot look after an accident within our region. The community needs to know our situation. We have to get everyone in the community working with the politicians to get this to change."
Mr Tickle says the public meeting will not be a "witch hunt".
"Despite providing assurances that any public meeting will have a strict scope of information and remedy with no political ambush there is a reluctance across all of those stakeholders at this stage to address the community via a public meeting. There will be no witch hunt or ambush with respect and even dialogue only tolerated."