Ashford farmer Paul O’Brien’s had plugged in the angle grinder and turned on the electricity and for some reason the angle grinder was already switched on.

It slipped straight out of his hand and dug into his leg.

Luckily, his wife, Denise, was there and she used an old sheet that was in the shed to be used as rags to bandage the wound.

“We walked over to the house and called for help,’’ Mr O’Brien said.

“The ambos knew there was no doctor at Inverell Hospital so I didn’t know where I was going to end up. We thought an artery was cut.’’

Meanwhile, a helicopter was alerted and headed to Inverell Hospital.

“The chopper came in but I was lucky that Dr Botes was there at the hospital and he was capable of doing the job.

“I couldn’t complain – I couldn’t have got better treatment.

“The worry was where was I going to head off to for treatment.

“If it had been an artery, it could have been a drama.

“You can’t flog those local doctors or we’ll lose them too.’’

Mr O’Brien was at the hospital emergency department on Sunday, November 27.

He stayed in hospital for two nights and is home now.

His story is similiar to Brad Hilton’s who went to emergency on Saturday to find no doctor on duty.

A locum doctor left Inverell Hospital in the lurch and Hunter New England Health couldn’t find a replacement.

Glen Innes had the same problem.

Cathy Groen Stevens asked on The Times Facebook page why local doctors couldn’t take turns at being rostered on like they used to be?

Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall said that was the critical question.

“There needs to be guarantees around the availability of doctors now and into the future as the hospital is redeveloped and presentation numbers continue to increase,’’ he said. 

“I will keep the community posted on the outcomes of my meeting with Hunter New England Health.’’ 

Stuart Berryman said on Facebook that he didn’t think the corporate model suited government departments. Health was top heavy in administration with not enough personnel at the coal face.

“Maybe time for a change,’’ he wrote.

To learn more about a petition seeking changes to Inverell District Hospital’s staffing, click here.