Wyong cannot cope with rehab numbers

Our local MP Marie Andrews is wasting her time in admonishing the operators of the bus service from this area to Wyong Hospital at Kanwal.

The venture was doomed from the start as simply a vain and makeshift effort to cover up the mysterious closure of Gosford City's Rehabilitation Unit in Woy Woy Hospital.

The present arrangements are restrictive, inhumane and dangerous.

Visitation is restricted by relatives and friends having to make application to visit in the form of prior appointments.

Weekend visits are prohibited for those who need public transport.

This cumbersome system has been the cause of great distress in patients and visitors alike, particularly the elderly.

It is dangerous because it interferes with the vital therapeutic effect on patients brought about by visits from family and friends.

When one adds to these concerns the fact that Wyong Hospital is unable to cope with the number of rehab patients (some having to be sent to Ryde), the situation is dire.

Ms Andrews would be well advised to represent her constituents who are working for the reopening of the Woy Woy Hospital Rehabilitation Unit, instead of acting as a mouthpiece for the Health Department that created the problem in the first place.

Email, 27 Jul 2010 Ivan Kinny, Woy Woy