The percentage of people who say they've seen or heard threatening and aggressive behaviour directed at Dubbo Hospital emergency department (ED) workers is approaching double the NSW average.
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Data contained in the Bureau of Health Information's 2017/18 emergency department patient survey reveals almost one in five respondents or 18 per cent who presented at the Dubbo ED recalled threatening and aggressive behaviour directed at workers.
The NSW average for the same period was 11 per cent, or closer to one in 10 respondents.
Despite the difference, 98 per cent of patients who completed the survey said they felt safe during their visit to the Dubbo ED the same number as those across the rest of NSW.
The survey also revealed an overwhelming number (85 per cent) of patients accessing the ED rate the treatment received as good or very good.
Five per cent said the treatment they received was poor while 10 per cent said it was not good or poor.
Parking problems plaguing the hospital were reaffirmed in the survey results.
Sixty per cent of people said there was a problem finding parking near the ED a figure 18 per cent higher than the NSW average and up sharply on the 47 per cent of respondents who reported parking as a problem in 2016/17.
Ninety-five per cent of people said they were assessed within an hour of presenting to the ED, while four per cent waited between one and two hours.
One per cent reported they waited more than two hours.
While patient treatment feedback in the survey is positive, the revelations about the parking and the treatment of staff reinforce existing issues many community members are already frustrated by.
To deal with the parking problems, the NSW government is spending $30 million on 350 extra car parking spaces.
A new 131-space car park facility has already been partially opened.
In November 2018, the Western NSW Local Health District revealed it has spent $2.2 million employing around-the-clock security staff, providing more fixed and mobile duress alarms and CCTV cameras.
Bureau of Health Information chief executive Doctor Diane Watson said the 2017/18 survey results "present a great opportunity for healthcare providers to learn from what their patients are telling us and identify areas where there are opportunities to improve".
