Mackay hospital says helipad closure won’t risk patients lives

The lead doctor at Mackay Base Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit has firmly rejected claims the relocation of emergency helicopter landings is risking patients’ lives.

The lead doctor at Mackay Base Hospital’s (MBH) Intensive Care Unit has firmly rejected claims the relocation of emergency helicopter landings is risking patients’ lives.

It comes after Mackay Regional Council Mayor Greg Williamson said “someone will die”, following the revelation RACQ CQ Rescue may have to land at Mackay Airport for three years while the hospital underwent a $250 million expansion.

A drill rig set up at the hospital for pre-expansion investigations prompted the rescue service to divert to the airport in late October, after the machinery’s proximity to the helipad made landings unsafe.

Even though the multimillion-dollar expansion will not commence until January, CQ Rescue is unable to recommence landing at the hospital as the Civil Aviation Safety Authority recently updated its helipad standards.

The RACQ CQ Rescue Service rely on the helipad at Mackay Base Hospital to fly in critically-injured patients. Picture: RACQ CQ Rescue Service

A Queensland Health spokeswoman said changes meant the helipad’s exclusion zone now encroached onto council land and the Pioneer River, which is frequented by the public.

Mr Williamson previously claimed the rescue service’s diversion to the airport could add up to 30 minutes to patient transfers, making the difference between life and death.

But MBH Intensive Care Unit clinical director Dr Stephen Luke said he flew aboard CQ Rescue’s helicopter and could “assure the community” the interim landings were safe.

Mackay Base Hospital Intensive Care Unit clinical director Dr Stephen Luke says landing at the airport instead of at the hospital is not a compromise to patient safety. Picture: Mackay Hospital and Health Service

“It is already established practice for fixed wing transfers and when weather prohibits landing at the hospital helipad,” Dr Luke said.

“A highly skilled doctor who specialises in ICU or emergency medicine and a Queensland Ambulance Service specialist flight critical care paramedic are by the patient's side every step of the way from the moment they are picked up to the moment they are handed over to the care of hospital doctors.”

Dr Luke said they were excited the hospital was getting a new rooftop helipad in the expansion and they were “committed to maintaining” patient comfort, safety and privacy during interim arrangements.

Queensland Health Minister Shannon Fentiman said it was clinicians who were best placed to make assessments on patient safety at Mackay Base Hospital. Picture: David Clark

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman said she would always put patients and clinicians first, with clinicians best placed to make assessments on patient safety.

“I understand that Queensland Health and the Mackay Hospital and Health Service have been working hard to brief local stakeholders, including RACQ CQ Rescue and local councils,” Ms Fentiman said.

Mackay HHS is waiting on a report from an independent aviation consultant as well as an external patient risk safety assessment before it determines a location for helicopter landings during the 2024-26 hospital expansion project.

Mackay HHS chief executive Susan Gannon said the final decision would be “communicated fully to stakeholders and community”.

“I ask for the community to trust that myself as chief executive and the hospital and health board have patient safety at the top of our thinking when a decision is made,” Ms Gannon said.