Yvette D’Ath says health system under pressure from Covid-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has responded to a state government demand for increased health funding, describing it as ‘shakedown politics’.

Delta will “spread like wildfire” throughout Australia, putting hospitals under intense pressure, Annastacia Palaszczuk has warned.

The Queensland Premier said authorities had to prepare for an “unprecedented” demand on the country’s health services ahead of Covid ripping through the community in coming months, and that would require much more funding from the Commonwealth.

“When Delta comes in, it will spread like wildfire,” she said.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the health system is likely to face unprecedented demand. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Jono Searle

“We’re already seeing increased surges in NSW hospitals and increased surges in Victorian hospitals.

“So the hospitals need to have the capacity and that requires additional funding coming from the federal government to support the growth in numbers that we will see.

“This will be unprecedented.”

She said people had seen what’s been happening in other parts of the world.

“It is going to happen right throughout Australia when this delta virus spreads,” she said.

“So we need to be prepared.

“There needs to be a lot of work that needs to happen and we’ve got to get this right.

“There is no use rushing.”

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath provides a Covid-19 update. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

The comments follow a letter signed by health ministers to federal Health Minister Greg Hunt asking for extra, shared 50/50 health funding, uncapped funding and a funding guarantee until June 30

Ms Palaszczuk said Australia also needed to get vaccinated.

“Until you do both of those, it would be irresponsible to put the whole country at risk and I’m not going to put Queenslanders at risk,” she said.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the pressure on the health and hospital system wasn’t just about whether there were enough ventilators and beds.

“It is about the effect it is going to have on our entire health system,” she said.

“How many people are going to be off work and needing to see a GP because they’ve got Covid?

“How many people are going to be turning up in our emergency departments?

“How many people will be calling on our ambulances to transfer them to hospital because they are unwell from Covid?

“This is on top of extreme demand we already have across every single health system in Australia.

“Our demand levels were at peak already because of growth, m people dropping out of private health, ageing population, increasing acuity and complexity about health conditions.

“So we were already feeling the pressure of demand and Covid has come over the top.”

She said the country needed “a serious conversation” about the funding commitments from the Commonwealth around health.

The State Government says demands on the health system is not just about access to ventilators, but demand for ambulance and GP services. Picture: David Clark

“It will impact our entire economy if our health systems cannot manage Covid,” she said.

Ms D’Ath said the Commonwealth needed to rectify the numbers of people in hospitals who should be in aged care facilities, or fund the states for those beds, and there also needed additional funding for mental health.

“When we open up and people are vaccinated, there will be more Covid in our community and there will be more pressure on top of flu season and everything else,” she said.

“This is why every health minister of every political persuasion has said enough is enough.

“We need action, we need commitments right now because we are all trying to plan for the future beyond lockdowns and restrictions and how we live with Covid and we can’t do it on our own.”

However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison blasted the Queensland Premier’s call for more hospital funding as “shakedown politics”, saying they had been “showered with cash”.

“Our government has increased funding to hospitals across the nation by over 70 per cent since we came to government. The states have increased their funding by just over 40 per cent,” Mr Morrison said.

“If they’d like to match us I’m sure they’re going to be able to close the gap.”

He said running the public hospitals was a state responsibility and they had 18 months to prepare them to deal with a surge in cases.

“There’s a lot of talk about what the responsibilities of the states are. I can tell you what one of them is, run the public hospitals and get them ready for any surge in demand that will come,” Mr Morrison said.

“There have been a lot of opportunities to prepare for this.

“But I don’t think the pandemic should be used as an excuse for shakedown politics.

“They just need to get on with the job, get the hospitals ready.

“We have showered the states with cash when it comes to the health system, when it comes to supporting industries and economies, whether it’s through JobKeeper, or the more recent economic supports or Commonwealth disaster support payments.”