The Parliamentary inquiry into health outcomes and access to health and hospital services in rural, regional and remote NSW started last year. The inquiry has heard from individuals and organisations from across the state.

It recently heard from representatives in Walgett.

Walgett Shire Council general manager Michael Urquhart and then mayor Ian Woodcock spoke at the inquiry, in particular their concerns with the loss of face-to-face healthcare.

Mr Urquhart said council's primary concern when it came to the region's health services was the replacement of face-to-face primary care with telehealth - which connects patients to a doctor or medical professional via video chat.

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"Our remote shire experiences poorer health, higher chronic disease, an ageing population and a lower life expectancy [than metropolitan areas]," he said.

"Quality medical services in rural and remote towns are an essential element for every individual's quality of life and the ongoing economic sustainability of our communities. A reduction in basic face-to-face medical services is a retrograde step, one that increases isolation and remoteness for residents and a widening of the gap between the haves and the have-nots.

"For residents living in the shire it is a terrifying situation when one becomes seriously ill, knowing that face-to-face primary care is limited and emergency specialist services are three hours away in Dubbo."

When Mr Woodcock was asked about the community's response to telehealth, and if people were not getting medical treatment because that was often their only option, he said it appeared that way.

"They do not like it. They do not want anything to do with it," he said.

Mr Woodock said patients felt telehealth didn't feel like they were getting a proper consultation, due to lines dropping out or poor signals.

"I know one of our councillors had to go down to Coonamble last week... No one was here in Lightning Ridge. He had to have a telehealth thing done," Mr Woodcock said.

"He said it was disgusting. He is a medical man himself. He said it does not work.

"People do not feel as if they are getting the proper treatment. If the doctor is there to have a look at you and say 'have a look at this' or whatever they need to do, sometimes it does not work if you are looking at it on screen.

Mr Urquhart said the NSW government needed to design and implement a new GP recruitment and training program for rural and remote communities, increase the funding for rural and remote health services and increase primary health care general practitioners in rural and remote areas.

He also called for the council to be part of any major health decision made in the town.

Speaking at the inquiry, Walgett Aboriginal Medical Service and Brewarrina Aboriginal Medical Service operations manager Katrina Ward addressed the lack of respected she experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said as an organisation they responded and reacted immediately to get extra staff and vaccines.

"Then it was two or three days later the team - the Local Health District and the Australia Defence Force - just turned up in town and put up their pop-up clinics. There was no consultation with 'where have you been?' or 'how could we help you?'. It was like 'here we are. Come to us now'," Ms Ward said.

"It did cause a lot of confusion within the the community and I personally believe there was no respect from the other organisations back to us Aboriginal health organisations."

Ms Ward said the AMS was required to "mop up" the mess as confusion in the community around the vaccine rollout grew.

"We were the ones carrying the burden of it all and taking some slack from our own mob too along the way, but we took that with our grace, as we usually do. It was very disappointing from that point of view," she said.

"It would have been nice just to say 'hey, look, we want to come to town. We were thinking of doing this, do you need that or would you prefer us to go somewhere else?'."

NSW Labor secured the numbers to launch the inquiry in September last year. It was prompted by allegations of lives lost or put at risk through dysfunction in public hospitals in places such as Cobar and Dubbo.

Dubbo and Wellington representatives addressed the inquiry last year. Hearings continue in February.