LNP brings Town Hall to Hervey Bay to address hospital crisis

An empty hospital floor in the Hervey Bay Hospital emergency department and the region’s ability to cope with Covid were among top topics covered at a public meeting as the war over our hospital crisis flares up again.

The empty floor of Hervey Bay’s emergency department has once again surfaced as one of the biggest points of contention as political parties continue to war over the embattled hospital.

LNP leader David Crisafulli and Shadow Health Minister Ros Bates led the discussion at a Town Hall about the issue at the Oaks Resort in Urangan on Wednesday.

Fears about how the hospital would manage an outbreak of Covid were raised, while Ms Bates was scathing about the unfinished floor of the Hervey Bay Hospital’s new emergency department.

“We know that the upstairs is just a pigeon coop really,” Ms Bates said.

It was an empty building without any funding for any beds, she said.

She also shared her concerns regarding any possible Covid outbreak.

“Here in Hervey Bay there are only seven ICU beds,” she said.

Opposition leader David Crisafulli addresses the Town Hall in Hervey Bay on Wednesday.

“If you had an outbreak of Covid with the elderly population, 30 per cent of which is over 60 years of age, you would be in a bit of strife.

“So there needs to have been planning.”

The Chronicle asked both the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service and Hervey Bay MP Adrian Tantari whether Hervey Bay Hospital was prepared for an outbreak of Covid, but the question was not answered.

Mr Tantari instead attacked the LNP for its actions while in power under former premier Campbell Newman.

“The consequences of the LNP’s cuts to health locally were dire and it’s only the hard work of the Palaszczuk Government that has delivered record health funding for our community here in Hervey Bay,” he said.

“Additional health services have been and are continuing to being rolled out in Hervey Bay, including the brand new ambulance station at Urraween, the new emergency department, only brought online in 2018, the brand new mental health unit currently under construction and the additional $12 million in funding to provide for more staff at the Hervey Bay and Maryborough Hospitals.

“In comparison, 345 hard-working doctors and nurses in the Wide Bay were sacked by the LNP, when they were last in government.

“The LNP only ever want to talk down our health system, and that means that they are talking down our local nurses, doctors and paramedics.”

The Together Union also issued a statement regarding the Town Hall, accusing the Opposition of a “cynical attempt to gain votes”.

“If the LNP cared about health then Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Wide Bay MP Llew O’Brien would not be cutting Medicare funding and would be working hard to make sure this community wasn’t about to lose an entire medical practice in Maryborough,” Together Union secretary Alex Scott said.

#LIVE: Health Crisis Town Hall Hervey Bay.

Queensland Opposition Leader @DavidCrisafulli is speaking alongside Shadow Health Minister @Ros_Bates_MP#qldpol https://t.co/hlakzY44iP

— David Crisafulli (@DavidCrisafulli) October 6, 2021

Ahead of the Town Hall, Mr Crisafulli said it was owed to those gathered to have the chance to share their stories.

“The people behind me are the heroes of the Queensland Health crisis,” he said.

“Many of them are patients who have had issues with the hospital.

“Others are staff, brave whistleblowers who picked up the phone and phoned (Shadow Health Minister) Ros Bates and myself, telling a story about what happens when governments start losing control of health systems.

“Now more than ever people need to know that their health system is up to scratch.”

Mr Crisafulli said Town Halls were useful for those who wanted to share their stories.

Some patients had had long awaited surgeries cancelled up to half a dozen times, he said.

Others were still on waiting lists, he said.

The focus was on fixing a ‘broken system’,” Mr Crisafulli said.

Ms Bates said Hervey Bay Hospital was currently in Code Yellow, a term for overcrowding at the hospital which meant elective surgeries would need to be cancelled.

“We have had whistleblower nurses coming to speak to us,” she said.

“I have been here on many occasions when I have spoken to patients about their concerns regarding Hervey Bay Hospital.

“We know that there is a cultural problem within this health facility and that's why people are whistleblowing now.”

Ms Bates said ambulance ramping and Code Yellows were happening at Hervey Bay Hospital well before Covid.

She said ramping at Hervey Bay Hospital, where ambulances were forced to wait at the hospital because of bed shortages, was at 35 per cent.

“Patients are waiting longer than five hours on a trolley to actually be offloaded off a QAS trolley onto a bed at Hervey Bay Hospital.”

Ms Bates said were there were “big issues” at Hervey Bay Hospital and that’s why the LNP was holding the Town Hall, to start to “heal the health system”.

Mr Crisafulli said he wanted to see the plan for how hospitals would manage Covid when borders reopened.

“What’s particularly concerning is that on one day the Premier says we’re not ready, the next day the Deputy Premier says we are ready – is there any wonder why Queensland is confused?

“What I want is a pathway out of the pandemic. I want the government to show what they have done in the last 18 months to get us ready for the inevitable, which is what we are about to see.

“What have they done?”

A response from Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service chief executive Debbie Carroll said a significant investment had been made in expanding local health services and capacity on the Fraser Coast.

“Year-on-year growth is beyond what any analyst or expert body predicted for the Fraser Coast, and indeed the rest of the country – which has resulted in significant pressure being placed on hospitals and health services,” she said,

“We appreciate that our staff are feeling the impact of this demand.

“Wide Bay HHS remains committed to working with our staff, unions and with Queensland Health as we face these challenges and ensure that our community receives the best care possible.

“The best thing that the community can do to support our hardworking frontline staff is to come forward and get vaccinated.

“We know that those who are vaccinated against COVID-19 are far less at risk of serious illness.”