Redcliffe, Caboolture hospitals under more strain as Morayfield service closes

Two of Queensland’s busiest hospital emergency departments face further strain with the closure of a nearby clinic that treats minor injuries.

There are fears more pressure will be placed on two of Queensland’s busiest emergency departments, after a local doctor’s practice was forced to close its urgent care services.

Health Hub Doctors Morayfield north of Brisbane has redirected patients with urgent, non-life-threatening injuries such as burns and broken bones to Redcliffe and Caboolture hospitals after it shut its Minor Accident and Illness Centre on Friday.

According to the practice’s website, urgent care services have operated at a “substantial loss because of the inadequate funding provided by the government to this type of care”.

“Despite extensive discussions with both levels of government, there is a lack of support from the state and federal governments for our Minor Accident & Illness Centre to continue,” it reads.

The move has prompted a petition of support for the practice which has garnered more than 7800 signatures in three days.

“As a resident of the Moreton Bay region, I am unhappy about the lack of support from the federal and state governments, for the Minor Accident and Illness Centre at the Health Hub Morayfield,” the petition reads.

“Without the Minor Accident and Illness Centre, our community will have limited choice to access to care for urgent, non-life-threatening illnesses or injuries.

The Redcliffe Hospital emergency department

“As a result, we will now need to attend the congested public hospitals in Caboolture or Redcliffe for any wound, fracture or injury that cannot be treated by a visit to a family doctor.”

On Labor’s Longman candidate Rebecca Fanning’s Facebook page, Health Hub director Evan Jones said he was “incredibly frustrated by the Federal Government’s inability to properly fund this”.

“And currently I lose $200,000 a month in operating this facility because of the federal government’s inability to recognise this model of care,” Dr Jones said.

But a federal health spokesman said questions about direct funding should be directed to Queensland Health.

“Health Hub Doctors Morayfield continues to be eligible for Medicare funding, Practice Incentive Payments and Workforce Incentive Payments like all other general practices in Australia,” the spokesman said.

It is understood Queensland Health’s decision to end the grant agreement arrangement was decided following an independent evaluation.

Opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates called on the State Government to release the independent evaluation and any modelling that showed how it would ­impact Caboolture and Redcliffe hospitals.