Redland Hospital doctors fear for jobs if they raise safety concerns

The state’s peak doctors’ body says it is raising concerns about conditions at a South East Queensland hospital because its members can’t.

Redland Hospital

Queensland Health must take the gags off doctors, the state’s peak medical body warns, as medics blow the whistle on horror problems and fears for patient safety at Redland Hospital.

Australian Medical Association Queensland president Maria Boulton told The Courier-Mail: “We are speaking out because our members can’t.

“They have tried taking their concerns to Queensland Health but they are not being listened to.

“They fear losing their jobs or other retribution.”

Doctors at the Cleveland hospital, which has the worst ambulance ramping figures in the state, have reported to the AMAQ that they fear for the lives of patients.

Staff are leaving in droves and there is a critical shortage of full-time registrars and not enough consultant anaesthetists.

Redland is the only metropolitan Queensland Health hospital without an intensive care unit, 24/7 general surgical services and inpatient orthopaedic services.

The Queensland government promised a staged expansion in 2020 but it still has not been delivered.

“It is truly disturbing that Queensland Health has a culture where staff are not told the outcomes of reviews of critical incidents, which would help prevent repeat incidents, and when staff who resign are not even asked why they are leaving,” Dr Boulton said.

The AMAQ claims that doctors who resign are not being given exit interviews where normally problems are aired.

Dr Boulton has written to Health Minister Yvette D’Ath outlining the serious concerns raised by AMAQ members.

“Many of these issues appear to flow from that failure to deliver. Redland was supposed to have an ICU and 32 more beds by late 2022, but this has been delayed until late 2024,” she said.

“The promised Stage 2 expansion, including a new emergency department, has been postponed indefinitely.”

AMAQ president Maria Boulton

Opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates said Redland Hospital was the latest domino to fall in Labor’s health crisis.

“The people of Redlands and Queenslanders everywhere are paying a very high price due to the Palaszczuk Government’s appalling mismanagement of the health system,” she said.

Ms D’Ath said the issues raised by the AMAQ related to operational decisions made by the HHS and hospital management.

“I think those issues are best worked through by the AMA directly with the HHS (hospital and health service) leadership,” she said.

“But when it comes to health investment, the Palaszczuk Government is delivering for Redlands.

“We have recently awarded the contract for the Stage 1 hospital expansion, which will deliver 37 additional beds and a new ICU in the first half of 2024.

“On top of that, our new 28-bed modular ward will be delivered next year.

“Our Redlands satellite hospital and the minor injury and illness clinic contained within it will divert ED presentations and take pressure off the Redland Hospital.”

Metro South Health acting chief executive Noelle Cridland said patient safety was the hospital’s priority.

“Redland Hospital has a formal process for reviewing patient safety matters through the clinical incident review committee, which is held monthly and attended by medical and nursing leaders,” she said.

“Recommendations relating to clinical issues are reviewed and actioned through this committee.

“Clinical leaders are responsible for communicating information and learnings within their divisions.

“Metro South Health works with clinical leaders to identify opportunities to improve communication on an ongoing basis.”

Ms Cridland said Redland Hospital had an innovative “message in a bottle” initiative, which allowed staff to submit feedback to the executive team.

All submissions were reviewed by the executive director of the hospital.

She said the hospital was working hard on patient flow initiatives, including new measures implemented since July 2022 including:

* Increasing medical discharges where clinically appropriate on weekends through increased medical staff coverage.

* Improved transit lounge utilisation through an expanded transit lounge to enable more discharges.

* Increased capacity for treatment and observations in the emergency department through additional staffing.

* Improving the patient journey for patients with complex need.

* Increasing the utilisation of Hospital in the Home program.

Ms Cridland said Redland Hospital’s performance had already significantly improved.

The proportion of patients admitted from the emergency department within four hours improved from 36.4 per cent in July 2022 to 50.1 per cent in October 2022, and the number of people who spent more than 24 hours in the emergency department more than halved.

“We are pleased to see the Redland Hospital expansion including the new six-bed intensive care unit is progressing, with the tender awarded in October 2022,” Ms Cridland said.

“Our focus has always been on delivering as many beds as possible for Redland Hospital, to meet the increasing needs of the local community.

“That’s why we invested additional time at the detailed design phase of the project to ensure that we had the best possible outcome for Redland Hospital.

“Unfortunately, the procurement stage took longer than expected due to the market conditions in the construction industry.

“However we are pleased that a tender has now been awarded.”