Usually when a minister is visiting a local hospital, there's a lot of fanfare that goes along with it.
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There might be a media release, security, briefings with administration staff beforehand and a prepared announcement to make.
But on Monday around midnight, there was none of that, as the new NSW Health Minister Ryan Park parked outside Wollongong Hospital and walked in to the emergency department.
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"I just turned up to the triage nurse and I said, 'can I have a chat with your nurse manager or the overnight manager and they said, 'Oh, okay'," Mr Park said.
"There were a lot of people there, I think there was about 40 people in the waiting room and I just wanted to see firsthand how this operated in real time, just privately and on my own without any fanfare or fuss.
"It was a really good opportunity just to speak with the staff and learn a few things about what they're trying to do, how they're trying to manage people through fast-tracking and other things, and to hear firsthand the challenges and the pressure they're under, to be honest."
His low-key snap visit was the second of its kind, after he joined Premier Chris Minns in Westmead last Monday, the night before he was sworn in as minister.
"I hear that Monday is one of the most challenging periods for an ED coming out of the weekend ... and last night in Wollongong was no different, really challenging," he said.
According to health workers, Monday night in Wollongong ED is often plagued by a backlog of patients due to GPs being closed and doctors not being able to attend to people in aged care during the weekend.
Weekend rostering can also mean hospital patients are less likely to be discharged because there's not as many doctors on, and this then creates delays down the line in the ED and for ambulances arriving at the hospital.
Mr Park said he would be making at least one unplanned visit to a hospital each week as he navigated his new role as health minister.
"I know it's an interesting approach but, for me, it's where I'm going to learn and it's where I'm going to get as close to what is really happening and the pressure they're under," he said.
"It's not a filtered version, it's not a sanitised version - it's just what's happening."
He said the surprised patients and staff at Wollongong seemed to welcome his visit.
"There were a few patients who stopped me and wanted to have a chat and they asked me if there were any beds in there," he said.
"I think the staff seemed appreciative.
"I sat down with one of the nurses who was having a break, and we just sat in the break room for about 20 minutes and just had a real chat about the challenges that she's faced.
"They feel every shift is really difficult at the moment and that's not what we want to see going forward.
"But before we try and solve everything, I need to get a real sense from these people how this is playing out on the ground."
Before the election, Mr Park - who was Labor's health spokesman for the four years prior - believed his time in opposition would help him to take on the role of reforming and strengthening the health system.
"I don't have any bureaucracy filtering the direct view that I get from the coalface," he told the Mercury in the lead up to the poll.
His unorthodox midnight visits are an effort to hold on to that view, which he then plans to take to cabinet meetings and policy briefings in the coming weeks.
"I want to be a minister who gets down on the ground as much as I can and gets an understanding of what's happening in real time in real-life EDs," he said.
"I also deliberately wanted to go to Wollongong very early in the piece because that's my local hospital and that's where my local ED is.
"The community knows that it's under enormous pressure at the moment and I wanted to make sure that those staff actually got to have a chance to have a yarn with the health minister.
"And it certainly won't be the last time I turn up to an ED, I'll be at least doing one a week."
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