Health bidding war kicks off week two of Queensland election campaign

Both major parties unveiled new health policies on Monday, with the LNP targeting elective surgery waiting lists and Labor announcing satellite hospitals.

On day seven of the state election campaign, Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington toured Hervey Bay – once a Labor stronghold but held by the LNP since 2009 – while Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk took her campaign bus to Bribie Island, where Labor narrowly lost the seat of Pumicestone in 2017.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington traded health announcements on Monday.Credit: Jack Tran/Matt Dennien

The LNP will spend $300 million to team up with private hospitals to help clear the elective surgery waiting list, with Ms Frecklington saying it will "fast-track the surgeries of nearly 56,000 patients across Queensland".

"There is no point having empty beds in private hospitals when Queenslanders are waiting for surgery," she said.

Meanwhile, Labor announced $265 million to set up seven mini-hospitals in south-east Queensland, described by Ms Palaszczuk as an Australian first.

However, they will be funded through further borrowings, not under the health budget, meaning more debt for the state.

Under the proposal, patients could receive treatments for chemotherapy, kidney dialysis, mental health issues, and other chronic health conditions without having to travel to a major hospital.

The mini-hospitals would be rolled out at Bribie Island, Pine Rivers, south Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Ipswich, Caboolture and Redlands, creating 760 jobs.

"They can also include outpatient services and community-based health services hospitals, such as child and youth health services and aged and frail care services," Ms Palaszczuk said.

"This means people and families will not have to travel to hospital, they can get these treatments closer to home.

"We know how hard it can be to travel long distances for vital treatment."

Deputy Premier and Health Minister Steven Miles said each hospital would be tailored to their local community and would also handle less-serious accident and emergency cases.

"This will also relieve pressure on our ambulance patient transport services," he said.

"When an ambo picks someone up from Bribie and has to take them to Caboolture Hospital and back, that can be a two-hour round trip at peak times.

"That is a fair chunk of their shift, and that is time they are not spending saving other lives."

On Sunday, Ms Palaszczuk vowed to hire double the number of new frontline health staff across the state compared to the LNP.

In addition, Ms Palaszczuk said her 9475 new staff would be hired as part of the health budget, while the LNP are yet to detail how they would fund their extra 4440 health jobs.