Health Minister Yvette D’Ath weighs in on crisis at Hervey Bay Hospital

The Health Minister’s response comes after a vote of no-confidence in the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service board was sent to her office but before she was aware of an Opposition move to call a Town Hall crisis meeting on the issue.

After a vote of n0-confidence in the board overseeing Hervey Bay Hospital was sent to her office, Health Minister Yvette D’Ath has responded to ongoing concerns surrounding the crisis at the hospital.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath has responded to growing concerns about the crisis at the Hervey Bay Hospital, after a vote of no-confidence in the board overseeing the hospital was sent to her office this week.

A leaked letter to Ms D’Ath from the Together Union revealed a meeting of members resulted in the unanimous no-confidence vote in the “ability of the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service to set the direction in providing the services needed by the people of Hervey Bay and Maryborough”.

Ms D’Ath addressed the situation in a response to the Chronicle, saying she expected the hospital and health service to “work with all stakeholders to seek ongoing improvements to health service delivery”.

“It was a pleasure to sit down with different Unions and their members across the workforce at Hervey Bay Hospital recently with the Director General when we had regional cabinet in the area last week,” Ms D’Ath said.

“Issues raised by the staff are being communicated to the Executive.

“I expect the HHS to work with all stakeholders to seek ongoing improvements to health service delivery.

“I want to acknowledge the efforts of hardworking local health workers for the quality care they provide every day to the Wide Bay community.

“The State Government is continuing to invest in new and improved infrastructure throughout the local Hospital and Health Service, which includes continuing to invest in Hervey Bay, Maryborough and Bundaberg Hospitals.

“The Palaszczuk Government is delivering record funding of $724.9 million this financial year to Wide Bay HHS.”

The response from the Health Minister comes after a bleak picture of an ICU in crisis was painted earlier this week in extraordinary leaked letters sent between a senior doctor, Wide Bay Hospital and Health chiefs and the union.

In one letter, sent to a senior doctor and sighted by the Fraser Coast Chronicle, Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service CEO Debbie Carroll stressed the Hervey Bay Intensive Care Unit was assessed as Level 4 and provided a number of directions staff had to follow to ensure it operated as such – including the transfer out of patients whose needs were beyond the “clinical capabilities” of the local team.

A response from Together Union lead organiser Allison Finley-Bissett, however, claimed that in reality the Hervey Bay ICU had been wrongly categorised by the health service as Level 4 when it had been experiencing Level 5 activity for the past eight years.

She said the union believed this was an exercise in ensuring Hervey Bay Hospital was not upgraded – a concern which has repeatedly been flagged as plans progress for a new hospital in Bundaberg.

This week, Hervey Bay MP Adrian Tantari also weighed in on the situation at Hervey Bay Hospital.

He told the Chronicle on Tuesday he had contacted both the Queensland Health Minister and the Director General of Health and asked that they “assess the current direction” of the Wide Bay Health and Hospital Board.

In a response to the Chronicle this week, Ms Carroll said the growth in demand for care was “unprecedented”.

“While we’ve made significant recent investment in our local hospitals to increase their capacity and introduce more efficient models of care, the growth that we’re experiencing is beyond what any analyst or expert body predicted for our region,” she said.

“Our leadership team understands our staff are feeling the impact of this growth and demand, and we appreciate their ongoing commitment to providing quality healthcare while under this pressure.

“As always, we continue to be committed to working collaboratively with our staff, local union representatives and Queensland Health as we face these challenges, to ensure our community and patients continue to receive the best possible care now and in the future.”