The Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) has blamed the telephone system for the error and says it has implemented a range of changes to ensure this could not happen again.

During after hours service patients who attend the facility on Keighran Street in Henty are required to speak to staff via the phone at the front of the building with the front doors locked for security purposes.

The man was turned away from the facility after picking up the phone at outside the front door and explaining to a nurse that he was experiencing chest pain. He did not specify that he was at the front of the building and the nurse didn’t ask.

The nurse advised him to hang up and call an ambulance, believing that he was in his own home.

Calls from the phone at the front of the building go through to the nurses office as a normal call. The system does not alert staff if the call is coming from the facility and this is the first time in 10 years an incident like this has occurred.

“Henty Multipurpose Service has apologised to the local man who arrived at the emergency department in the early hours of the morning with chest pains when doors were locked for security,” MLHD regional general manager Rosemary Garthwaite said.

“The MPS has investigated and made improvements to ensure a similar incident does not occur.

“Patients experiencing chest pain are encouraged to ring 000 for urgent assistance.”

The problem is being rectified at the centre with both immediate and long-term measures being put in place.

Signs have been placed at the front of the hospital informing patients to let the staff know they are at the facility, nurses will also ask where the patient is and the phone system at the facility is being changed to identify where calls are coming from.

The patient was treated at Wagga Rural Referral Hospital and is now home.