Jim Fisher furious over Mackay Base Hospital wait time blowing out to 540 days

An Ooralea pensioner furious after a specialist appointment request blew out to 540 days, has called on hospital administrators to be more upfront on real wait times.

An Ooralea pensioner is shocked and angry after learning his recommended wait time to see a specialist neurosurgeon had blown out from 90 days to 540 days.

Jim Fisher has called on Mackay Hospital and Health Service to “tell the truth” to patients so they are not left twiddling their thumbs waiting for an appointment that wasn’t coming “for a long time”.

The 81 year old has been diagnosed with a tumour in his jugular vein and is listed as a category two specialist outpatient, which has a clinically recommended wait time of 90 days.

Jim Fisher received two letters from Mackay Base Hospital stating as a category two patient his recommended wait time was 90 days. He was later told he would not get an appointment with a neurosurgeon for 540 days. Picture: Michaela Harlow

He said he received two letters from the hospital in July and August 2021 stating as such.

“I got two of them, this is what started me on it,” he said. “I thought when does this 90-day period start, from the first notification or the second notification.”

Mr Fisher said he rang the hospital and was told the list was long. “I said how long … approximately 540 days,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

Mr Fisher said he contacted Mackay MP Julieanne Gilbert, who approached the hospital for an explanation and received “a page and a half of rubbish”.

The Ooralea pensioner wants the hospital to be more upfront about their real wait times for specialist outpatients. Picture: Michaela Harlow

In a letter addressed to Mr Fisher, MHHS Perioperative women’s health and ambulatory care senior director Alix Thompson said the hospital did not employ any neurosurgeons and was “only able to provide limited outpatient services, supported by TUH (Townsville University Hospital)”.

Mr Fisher said he was pretty devastated.

“When you believe that you’re going to be seen within 90 days, well that’s all right, but when it blows out to 540 days, you just wonder what’s happening with the system,” he said.

“If they were upfront with you from the start and they told you the truth.

“There’s most probably a heap of people out there sitting with the same letters thinking they’re on a 90-day list and unfortunately they’ve got a lot of waking up to do because it’s just not going to happen.”

As at July 1, 2021 35.3 per cent of category two neurosurgery specialist outpatients were seen within the clinically recommended time.

Those same figures reveal 32.5 per cent of category one neurosurgery specialist outpatients were within the recommended 30 days, and 85.3 per cent of category three patients in the recommended 365 days.

“The disturbing thing about it is when you’re in hospital here in Mackay you couldn’t ask to be treated better than the way the doctors and nurses treat you when you’re an in patient,” Mr Fisher said.

“But when you get on this waiting list, that’s a different story.”

Jim, 81, and Bev, 80, Fisher, from Ooralea are not happy about the hospital wait. Picture: Michaela Harlow

There is no legislative requirement to see patients within the clinically recommended times.

MHHS chief executive Lisa Davies Jones said appointments depended on the service of a visiting neurosurgeon from Townsville, which limited the number of available clinics.

“If these clinics are cancelled due to public holidays or staff leave this impacts our ability to see patients in time,” Ms Davies Jones said.

“We are exploring other options such as telehealth or partnering with a private provider to increase our ability to see more patients.”

Wait times to see specialist doctors depended on various other factors, Ms Davies Jones said, including the doctor referral and assessment of urgency and how many other people already on the wait list.