Ipswich Hospital staff tell of unworkable clogging

A shocking photo has exposed critical overcrowding at Ipswich Hospital which has left doctors with no choice but to discharge patients.

Ipswich Hospital is so crippled by overcrowding that emergency department doctors are forced to discharge admitted patients as no ward beds become available, hospital sources report.

As The Courier-Mail reveals that 15 ambulances were ramped at the busy West Moreton Health Service facility on Monday, exhausted staff have disclosed that the emergency department has become so clogged and bed block so extreme that some patients are not receiving optimal care.

United Workers Union national ambulance co-ordinator Fiona Scalon said Ipswich Hospital had the worst rate of ramping in South East Queensland on Monday, but sources say the alarming line-up of ambulances is a regular occurrence.

“We are regularly bed blocked. It’s the same exhaustive story every day. There is even an area called Pod B in ED that fills up with admitted patients awaiting a bed upstairs,” a source said.

“Early every morning this pod is full. Some of these patients are discharged without ever making it upstairs,” the source said.

Queensland Health strongly denies the claim that any patient who needs further care is discharged.

Healthcare workers, however, say the emergency department cannot cope with the volume of people that flood through every day.

“The footprint of the ED is too small for what is coming in the door. This has roll-on effects — the QAS (Queensland Ambulance Service) cannot offload,” the source said.

Staff claim there is a doctor and nurse shortage at the hospital.

A West Moreton Health spokesman said it was not common for up to 15 ambulances to be ramped at Ipswich Hospital’s emergency department.

Ambulances ramped at Ipswich Hospital on Monday

“Ipswich Hospital’s emergency department experienced a significant increase in patients within a short period of time on March 20, several of whom required lifesaving treatment,” he said.

“All patients were assessed and triaged according to the urgency of their treatment.

“Ipswich Hospital’s emergency department has several strategies in place for dealing with peak periods. This includes calling on additional staff … as well as the use of dedicated bed cubicles known as Pod B.

“Pod B is where patients can comfortably await admission away from the waiting room.”

Ipswich Hospital is one of the biggest health facilities in the state, and one third of the West Moreton Health catchment is classified as being disadvantaged socio-economically, which can contribute to higher healthcare needs.

Ms Scalon said Ipswich Hospital had significant delays on Monday.

“They were beyond capacity and there were patients facing up to four to five hours waiting, that’s less than ideal,” she said.

“This is often a symptom of the system being strained, that’s when you get these blockages … ramping is the story, but it’s a symptom of the system not coping.”

James Burnham from Redbank shared a picture of over 15 ambulances outside Ipswich Hospital on Monday saying his partner was forced to wait for hours before being seen.

“The ambulance that responded to her call from Redbank, 4301 came from Lowood which is 40km away and that was the closest ambulance because they are all on the ramp waiting.”

The rate of ramping – patients waiting on a stretcher for more than half an hour – improved from 44 per cent to 41 per cent in the last quarter, but had risen steadily from 2014 where it sat at 13.5 per cent.