Leonard John Kemp wrote to Greater Western Area Health Service chief executive Danny O’Connor and NSW health minister Carmel Tebbutt with the intention of finding out why a “just implemented” policy was forcing patients out of the Dubbo ICU after only “short-term” occupancy.

Yesterday afternoon a Greater Western spokesperson said it had received the letter on October 4 and responded to it on October 6.

She said Dubbo hospital “has not just implemented a policy of transferring patients to Orange after a set period”.

“Every patient is individually assessed and depending on clinical need some may be transferred to a higher level of care in Orange or Sydney,” the spokesperson said.

“The transfer occurred well within the seven day guidelines for patient transfers because it was in the interest of the patient that the transfer occur.”

The spokesperson said there was “no evidence” that the trip contributed to the death of John William Kemp, 61, of Balladoran.

In his letter Leonard Kemp says his father was admitted to the Dubbo ICU with pneumonia and after a “strenuous night” was placed on life support to “help him breathe”.

Despite “several days of small improvements” and the concerns of family about moving the critically-ill man, Mr Kemp senior was taken to Orange where he experienced a “mild heart attack and died at 11.50am on the 26th of September 2009, slowly deteriorating two days after the move”, his son says.

The deceased man’s widow had questioned the transfer, only to be told “she should see a social worker”.

On the advice of a sympathetic nurse, Mrs Kemp lodged a complaint.

“To my knowledge we have yet to receive a response,” Leonard Kemp says in his letter, also sent to the Daily Liberal.

“I will never know if moving my father to OBH (Orange Base Hospital) contributed to his death,” Leonard Kemp said.

“I am aware that he also had other medical and health issues which did not help but I am still at a loss to understand why he was moved in such a fragile state.”

The Greater Western spokeswoman said Mr Kemp senior was retrieved by the helicopter team from Orange by road because of bad weather.

“On arrival at Orange he was critically unwell but stable. This was a routine patient transfer negotiated between the clinicians at Dubbo and Orange.”

The spokesperson said during the journey Mr Kemp senior remained on life support with a “specialist medical team and all necessary equipment and monitoring”.

“Mr Kemp was critically ill and the specialist medical team wanted to give him every chance of survival,”she said, before rejecting a suggestion in the son’s letter that “it may have been a better option to take him to OBH straightaway”.

The Greater Western spokesperson said it was “routine” for social workers to liaise with the families of critically-ill patients to offer support.

Minister Tebbutt yesterday passed on her condolences to the Kemp family, explaining their October 4 email had been missing the letter attachment.

“Consequently my office has spoken to Mr Kemp today to discuss his concerns,”she said.

The minister said patients needed to be provided with the best care available and sometimes that “means travelling to the most appropriate facility”.

Such clinical decisions were made by health staff in consultation with next of kin, she said.