FROM the earliest days, when details of the new Maitland Hospital at Metford were fed down the line from NSW government planners to senior staff representatives, concerns were raised about the ability of the new facility to handle the expected substantial increase in demand for its services.
On one hand, it could be said that similar fears are held whenever a new hospital is opened: whatever is offered can always be improved upon, in the eyes of doctors, nurses, ambulance crews and ancillary workers - and their unions - who naturally enough want to see the maximum amount of resources poured into their workplace.
