Health Minister defiant over resignation calls amid maternity crisis

Yvette D’Ath has vowed to stare down the almost unanimous chorus calling for her sacking and declared she is the right person to lead Queensland Health out of its ongoing maternity crisis.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath has defiantly declared she is the person to lead Queensland Health out of its ongoing maternity crisis.

In the wake of sustained pressure to resign following a string of disasters in her under siege portfolio, late Thursday Ms D’Ath told The Courier-Mail she was the right person for the job.

“What the Health portfolio needs is someone who is willing to acknowledge that there are challenges, and willing to drive reform that’s needed – that’s me,” she said.

“As Health Minister, I am leading the biggest health capital investment in the state’s history.

“As the Minister, I acknowledge the pressures and the issues that have evolved in the health system, and have been working with the Department and HHSs to address the need for reform to meet current and future demands.”

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath says she’s the person to drive reform at in her portfolio. Picture: Richard Walker

The ongoing crisis amid the maternity bypass at Gladstone Hospital – including midwives breaking protocol and calling for emergency help from obstetricians to assist with life and death births – came to a head this week following the sensational intervention of Acting Premier Steven Miles.

Dr Miles convened a meeting with Queensland Health director-general Shaun Drummond and Ms D’Ath on Monday, after which it was announced by Dr Miles four new obstetricians would be recruited for Central Queensland by mid-year.

But Ms D’Ath was later slammed this week after making the bizarre claim obstetricians were only need at 5 to ten per cent of births.

She later said she was only referencing “a specific set of circumstances in low-risk pregnancies in Gladstone”.

Dr John Hall, immediate past president of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia, warned that if Ms D’Ath continued to drum home the narrative that obstetricians were only needed in a small percentage of births, doctors would lose faith in their health Minister.

“Her comments (this week) are clearly ignorant and certainly give the impression she is out of her depth,” he said.

Despite the emergencies faced at Gladstone and the ongoing desperation of mothers in the area to get maternity services returned after six months of bypass, Mr Drummond told ABC radio yesterday “I don’t believe that we’re in crisis”.

“But at the moment, if we don’t change how many people that we’re training, have a look at all of the models around now, we can support stronger midwifery models, in the next 10 years we will absolutely be in crisis,” he said.

Queensland Health director-general Shaun Drummond. Picture: Richard Walker

In the wake of his comments, AMAQ president Maria Boulton said “it certainly feels like an obstetrics crisis to the expecting parents and healthcare workers I’ve been speaking to on the ground in central Queensland”.

“Expecting parents living in Gladstone are stressed about the lack of certainty and are concerned about the 100km drive to Rockhampton and the risk of ending up delivering a baby on the roadside. Gladstone is a regional city of 60,000 people,” she said.

Ms Boulton was also critical of Mr Drummond’s comments where he appeared to defend Ms D’Ath’s lack of action on the issue, in which he declared the buck stopped with him as Queensland Health boss.

“These are operational issues that in our system are the responsibilities of the boards and the chief executive of the hospitals and health services,” he said on the Health Minister.

“The Minister is responsible for policy environment, the work with government around how we fund it. This is not a funding issue for us.”

But Ms Boulton said while it was correct to say the “Central Queensland maternity services crisis is an operational issue” – and as director-general, “he should be accountable” – Ms D’Ath could not shirk from the collective responsibility for the disaster.

“The boards of Queensland’s various Hospital and Health Services report to the Health Minister. This is a collective responsibility that warrants collective and urgent action,” she said.

“They need to listen to the healthcare workers on the ground and support them. Central Queensland cannot afford to lose any more healthcare workers”.

On Thursday it was announced the Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service informed the community it had secured an additional locum obstetrician, returning full-time emergency obstetrics.

AMAQ president Dr Maria Boulton.

However most women would still be forced to travel to Rockhampton to have their babies.

CQHHS chief executive Emma McCahon said the birthing bypass would remain while the health service secures more specialists.

“This means an obstetrician will be available for expectant mothers during obstetric emergencies that cannot be managed by the midwives on shift and when the patient cannot be transferred safely,” she said.

“The boards of Queensland’s various Hospital and Health Services report to the Health Minister. This is a collective responsibility that warrants collective and urgent action,” she said.

“They need to listen to the healthcare workers on the ground and support them. Central Queensland cannot afford to lose any more healthcare workers”.