Caboolture satellite hospital: Long wait times, only one doctor on duty
Patients attending Queensland’s first “satellite hospital” have been less than impressed, with long waits and only one doctor on duty.
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The state’s first “satellite hospital” has drawn the ire of patients, who arrived on Monday expecting to walk into a hospital, but found only one doctor working and hours-long waiting times.
The satellite hospital opened only metres from the main Caboolture Hospital in late July, and saw more than 250 patients in its minor injury and illness clinic in its first eight days, a figure the government says proved the concept is working.
However on Monday, mother and daughter Brooke and Kendra Young were forced to wait almost four hours alongside just 12 other patients before they were seen for a viral infection by the only doctor on duty.
Kendra, 12, has autism and suffers from a condition where her throat can close over, especially when she is sick.
“When we woke up this morning both of us couldn’t talk so I thought about coming down to the main emergency room in Caboolture,” Ms Young said.
“Kendra got better as the day went on so I decided to go here because I saw it advertised on TV that it was for lesser emergencies but as it is called a hospital, (I thought) that it would be a hospital.
“We arrived at 10.30 and in total 12 others walked through the doors. We weren’t seen for four hours. It was absolutely ridiculous. There would be no way I would come here again, I just don’t understand it.”
Ms Young said that while she and her daughter were left waiting for hours, others with minor injuries were seen much more quickly.
“I think if you have a broken bone or something like that it would be really good, but for what it is advertised for and the fact it is called a hospital, absolutely not,” she said.
While the new site has left a bad taste in some patients’ mouths, others had better experiences.
“I broke my toe on a ladder and I spent a maximum of an hour and a half in there, it was pretty efficient,” Caboolture mother Lisa Gherm said.
“I know a lot of people in there were really unhappy with the wait times but I went through quickly so I would probably go back. I don’t know any GPs in the area so this was good.”
The satellite hospital program has previously drawn criticism from the opposition, which has claimed the lack of overnight beds meant they should not be called hospitals. The programs have also seen mammoth budget blowouts.
On Monday, Health Minister Shannon Fentiman opened the state’s third satellite hospital, in Redlands, saying the facility would cater for 1000 patients a week once it is operating on all cylinders.
“Queenslanders deserve the best health care, no matter where the live, and this facility will take pressure off the Redlands Hospital and emergency department,” she said.
“The Redland Hospital Modular Expansion project is well under way and will add 28 new acute in-patient beds to the region, further reducing the pressures we’ve been seeing across the state.”
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