The hospital welcomed four digital anaesthetics machines, funded through Hunter New England Health's capital funding program.

The machines give the hospital a safer and more cost effective service by improving ventilation and control of anaesthetics gases for patients.

One of the key figures to obtain the machines, anaesthetics staff specialist Dr Stefan Lang, said the equipment brings the hospital up to speed with the latest technology.

"We are proud to have these machines, this is a big step because we are coming up to what the whole district has in terms of technique.

"We are going from mechanical anaesthetic machines to fully digital that will improve anaesthetic services in terms of ventilation and will be environmentally friendly because we will use less anaesthetic gas.

"We will provide better lung protective ventilation, especially in young children," Dr Lang said.

The machines provide different modes of ventilation tailored to each patient, taking into account age, weight, blood pressure and heart rate.

"It's a step forward in getting a broader picture of where the patient is and to fine tune the anaesthetics," Dr Lang said.

It's a vast improvement to what the department has used.

"We had machines but they were elderly. They were still working but they were purely mechanical, they weren't what you really need today," Dr Lang explained.

"Looking at the other hospitals and what they are doing, we really needed to step up and look at patient safety."

Anaesthetics coordinator Toni Davis also championed the need for new machines.They're a real game changer in her eyes.

"For the people of Taree, this is a big step in the right direction for patient safety and improving services in this area," Ms Davis said.

"Anaesthetic machines are vital for the anaesthetic room because you can't do an operation without it."

Nurse unit manager Michael De Wright said the department is bringing anaesthetics "to the 21st century".

"It gives us a basis to expand. The machines have a lot more potential in technology where we can keep updating it.

"I think it's important to know that we are here for the community, we're part of the community and the services are here for the community," Mr De Wright said.

At the end of the year, the department will introduce a brain oxygen monitoring system that will make anaesthetics safer for certain types of surgery, such as the shoulder.

"With these anaesthetics machines, this can be a built in solution so we don't have any extra monitoring which would be bulky and sit somewhere else.

"This is an all-in-one solution," Dr Lang said.

Mr De Wright is confident the upgrade will be an attraction for more anaesthetists to take up permanent positions at the hospital.

"We know this area has so much potential for people to work and live," Mr De Wright said.

"It's fair to say we are struggling in the workforce with attracting doctors so if our technology is up to current standards and contemporary, we're hoping that can be another thing that will add to the attraction of coming to this area."

Dr Lang said all aspects of anaesthetics must work coherently to be successful.

"Within Hunter New England Health, it will show the anaesthetic department is improving and we would like to attract more anaesthetists for positions here (Manning Hospital) as well," Dr Lang said.

"We need to look at all parts of anaesthetic services so that means we need good machines, well trained nurses, well trained doctors and support from the hospital as well to run a good service. We are working on all these different parts to improve this."

But the work isn't done yet.

Ms Davis encouraged the community and all levels of government to continue support for the department and quest to ensure they are equipped with modern technology.

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