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Girl, 11, turned away from hospital twice despite needing life-saving surgery

An 11-year-old girl who needed life-saving surgery was turned away from hospital twice because there weren’t enough beds.

Chloe Waud and her mum Catherine travelled from Campbelltown in NSW to Westmead in Sydney’s west and prepared for dangerous surgery for the sick youngster.

However, the surgery was cancelled because there weren’t any intensive care beds available on the day of the operation. This happened twice.

Chloe’s mother says it put her already suffering daughter through unnecessary pain that could have been avoided if the new Campbelltown Hospital had the appropriate facilities.

Chloe Waud (pictured) was turned away from hospital twice
Chloe Waud was turned away from hospital twice. Source: 7News

“She’s prepared for this, we’ve prepared for this, the school was prepared, our workplaces were prepared,” Ms Waud said.

“Devastation for her that this is not going through again.”

The return trip from Campbelltown to the Children’s Hospitals at Westmead and Randwick can take up to two hours by car and up to four hours by public transport.

In the last year 143 Macarthur patients and their families have been forced to make the trip to the intensive care units.

“Parents, patients and doctors have all been saying it, now the data shows it, we need to be planning for a paediatric intensive care unit at Campbelltown Hospital,” Campbelltown Labor MP Greg Warren said.

Campbelltown hospital didn't have a bed for Chloe Waud, 11
Catherine Waud says Campbelltown Hospital needs better facilities. Source: 7News

Campbelltown Council considered spending $5 million to get the unit up and running but instead voted to lobby the Premier and the opposition leader to get it done.

“Campbelltown Hospital is getting $630 million worth of redevelopment,” NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said.

“But the advice from the ministry is that the particular area of intensive care should remain with the three hospitals here in New South Wales that currently provide that.”

The minister says the state has more paediatric ICUs than any other and the upgraded Campbelltown Hospital is more than enough.