Image re-escalates slanging match between health rivals
The slanging match between political health rivals has reignited after an image of an ambulance ramping bay was shared with media.
QLD Politics
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The slanging match between Health Minister Shannon Fentiman and Opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates has reignited after an image of a dedicated ambulance ramping bay was shared with media.
The Opposition insists the new bay at the Princes Alexandra Hospital is proof the Queensland government is unable to fix the ramping issue at emergency departments across the state.
But Ms Fentiman said the creation of the dedicated section was in response to requests from health professionals to provide more comfort for patients waiting to be admitted into the hospital.
The Health Minister delivered a thinly veiled jab at her rival when responding to questions on Tuesday morning, declaring Ms Bates should know the importance of providing comfort to patients “as a former nurse”.
“Every hospital has a dedicated space for paramedics to wait with patients — we have a patient off-stretcher time target of 30 minutes,” Ms Fentiman said.
“So even when there’s absolutely no ramping whatsoever, paramedics wait with their patients until the transfer of care happens at the hospital.”
The Health Minister noted the image, taken by Ms Bates during a ridealong with ambulance staff, shows the bay was empty.
“Ros Bates visited on a day where there was absolutely no ramping and rather than praising the staff for the incredible work that has happened at one of our busiest hospitals to see a day where there was absolutely no ramping, the LNP wants to criticise us for making patients’ stay more comfortable,” she said.
“I just absolutely cannot understand it — The LNP should be embarrassed by this claim.”
The comments invoked a fierce response from Ms Bates less than two hours later, who said “the gall for Shannon Fentiman who swans around this state taking photo ops in soft portrait mode with newborn babies and elderly patients”.
“(Ms Fentiman is) more interested in what a photo looks like rather than the fact that she hid it and lied to Queenslanders that we are now having permanent ambulance ramping bays,” she said.
“These patients are offloaded from QAS (Queensland Ambulance Service) trolleys onto a Queensland Health trolley — the paramedic still stays there.
“So you have patients who are still waiting there on the ramp, they’re just in a bay with a number on it.”
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli was pressed about the LNP’s plans to release ambulance ramping and emergency performance data targets, but he refused to reveal when the plans for health management and goals would be unveiled.
Despite being pressed repeatedly, he said the targets would be released before the 2024 election in October.
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