Caboolture Hospital admits that working conditions are ‘unsafe’ in emergency department

The pressure faced by Caboolture Hospital staff has been exposed with “code yellows and every day maximum capacity”.

Hospital bosses admit working conditions have become “unsafe” in Caboolture’s emergency department with reduced staffing numbers and ballooning patient presentations leaving staff “overwhelmed”.

An ED newsletter sent to staff in June, obtained by The Courier-Mail, reveals the extent of pressure staff at the embattled hospital are under with “code yellows and every day maximum capacity”.

“We acknowledge especially on night duty that it is becoming unsafe with reduced staffing numbers and excess capacity and presentations continue, and staff are becoming overwhelmed,” the letter authored by the ED leadership team states.

A hospital newsletter acknowledged Caboolture’s emergency department was “overwhelmed”. Picture: Peter Wallis

It also revealed that Queensland Ambulance Service had warned the hospital there would be more cases of “rapid offloading” of patients to help deal with the growing ramping problem.

Rapid offloading means paramedics leaving patients in the care of hospital staff whether there is somewhere to put them or not so they can get back on the road to attend job quicker.

“It is an unsatisfactory situation, but we are stuck with it at present,” the newsletter says.

“From our perspective our instructions are to accept with good grace when this happens with patients within the ED – our concern is if it happens outside on the tarmac.”

Data from the June quarter shows close to 40 per cent of ambulances that attend the Caboolture Hospital ED are forced to ramp which is a 21.5 per cent increase on the same time last year.

A spokesman for Metro North Health said June saw a significant increase in presentations across the health service – especially at Caboolture Hospital.

“Please be aware that a Code Yellow is not cause for alarm in the community but is an internal activation which allows us to allocate and prioritise resources according to urgency,” he said.

“Since June, Caboolture Hospital has also increased its medical staff in the Emergency Department and initiated a Rapid Assessment Team which is improving patient discharge flow.”

The spokesman said the wellbeing and safety of our patients and staff was the service’s number one priority.

“Ambulance arrivals at Caboolture Hospital continue to remain high, but we have worked very closely with the Queensland Ambulance Service to ensure that the best possible care is provided to our patients,” he said.

The latest blow for the hospital comes as it was announced on Sunday afternoon the inquiry into its surgical department would be extended to investigate shocking claims of patients being harmed as a result of botched surgeries and substandard care.

Queensland Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said the government needed to commit to holding a proper inquiry into the problems at Caboolture Hospital. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

The inquiry, which was commissioned last month, was initially due to finish on Monday 11 October, but will now be extended until October 25.

Metro North Health Board Chair Jim McGowan said the inquiry, headed by surgeon Dr James Sweeney, had already interviewed a number of patients and staff.

He said he had approved the extension, at the request of Dr Sweeney, to allow the review team sufficient time to complete interviews and thoroughly explore issues raised.

Earlier in the day Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said the inquiry was too brief and too narrow to be considered thorough.

“We have every cause for concern for Queenslanders they are not going to get justice unless they hold a proper inquiry,” he said.

Kilcoy woman Janelle Oldfield, 45, was left fighting for life when a surgeon accidentally nicked her bladder and perforated her bowel at Caboolture Hospital in April.

Mrs Oldfield went in for a laparoscopy which should have been a simple day surgery but resulted in her becoming septic, with the emergency surgery performed to save her life leaving her with a stoma – a surgically created opening in the abdomen for a colostomy bag to attach to.

Janelle Oldfield at home in Kilcoy, who says she has suffered immensely after a botched operation at Caboolture Hospital. Picture Lachie Millard

Following a report in The Courier-Mail last month Ms Oldfield said she was contacted by the inquiry and told she would have people come and visit her and answer any questions she may have.

“I haven’t seen anybody, nobody has come to see me,” she said.

Mrs Oldfield has been unable to find out from the hospital the name of doctor who performed the procedure that left her maimed, instead she’s been forced to use Right to Information laws.

Nurses’ Professional Association of Australia secretary Aenghas Hopkinson-Pearson said some nurses feared a “cover-up”.