A DECISION on the potential closure of Murwillumbah Hospital's children's ward will be made within weeks after the deadline for submissions closed.

A Northern Rivers Area Health Service (NRAHS) spokeswoman said: "A decision on the way forward for paediatric services... will be made over the coming weeks after feedback on the position paper has been considered."

Meanwhile the claims and counter claims between local doctors and health bureaucrats continues.

Visiting medical officer Dr Doug Warne said the ward had already been effectively closed after paediatric nurses ceased being rostered on Friday, March 7.

He told ABC Radio there had already been an adverse event caused by the ward's closure with a 10-year-old girl transferred from Murwillumbah to Tweed Hospital in an ambulance without even a nurse to accompany her.

But the NRAHS chief executive Chris Crawford hit back.

"This claim that we're shutting the ward by stealth is completely inaccurate," Mr Crawford said.

"[I] checked with the managers who manage the Murwillumbah Hospital, and they've assured me that every shift except the morning shift on Saturday, which we couldn't cover unfortunately because of staffing issues, has had a paediatric nurse rostered on," he says.

Mr Crawford said records showed 20 out of 21 shifts have had a paediatric nurse rostered.

Meanwhile Ian Ross, chairman of the hospital's support committee, is organising a public meeting to protest the ward's possible closure with the support of doctors.

Mr Ross led the charge against the last attempt to shut down the ward when 7000 people marched down the main street of Murwillumbah in 2008.

Murwillumbah Residents and Ratepayers Association president Robyn Lemaire said, "I think it's terrible."

"Reducing our infrastructure for a growing population is not forward thinking," Ms Lemaire said.