Shock patient overflow into gym and corridors at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital

A whistleblower has sensationally claimed that Queensland’s biggest hospital is so overrun that patients have been treated in the gym while exercise sessions are held.

Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital has conceded some of its patients are occasionally relocated to “alternative” locations. Photo Steve Pohlner

Queensland’s biggest hospital is so overloaded it has repurposed a gym to look after its patients.

The Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital concedes some patients – classed as “outliers” – are occasionally being temporarily relocated to “suitable alternative” locations.

The confirmation comes as a whistleblower made shock claims patients had been treated in the hospital’s gym while exercise sessions were being held during tier three capacity escalations.

“I’ve seen beds in there while community patients were attending gym sessions,” the healthcare worker said.

The whistleblower claims patients were being placed in recovery wards at night before they are wheeled out again at 5am back into corridors.

The insider also claimed that on Thursday, the maternity ward was being used to treat 16 overflow geriatric, oncology and surgical patients.

“This is a regular occurrence. At times the place seems like a refugee camp,” the whistleblower said.

“Last week there was even a woman with an infectious disease in a bed in the maternity ward

“Corridor care across the hospital is a growing concern.

“A lot of the areas that are housing patients are not set up for optimal care.

“The corridors don’t have suction or oxygen or just the basics of healthcare.”

Dr Nick Yim.

AMA Queensland President Dr Nick Yim said the whistleblower’s claims highlighted how the healthcare system was struggling to keep up.

“We know that access block is one issue, but we must improve patient flow through our entire healthcare system,” he said.

“It’s well known that we need to increase hospital infrastructure capacity, but without the workforce, it will do little to address the issue.”

The RBWH has operated at tier three 16 days in the last six months, which means there was “limited capacity to meet the needs of the local community”.

An RBWH spokesman said that due to capacity pressures some patients were occasionally “temporarily relocated” to areas which were “safely staffed and supervised”.

“Patient safety is the top consideration when deciding where these outlier patients can be accommodated,” the RBWH spokesman said.

“In these cases, access to critical equipment is considered including ward locations that meet appropriate suction and oxygen requirements, such as procedural recovery areas.

“A previous gym area has been appropriately fitted out as a discharge transit lounge with suitable clinical staffing.”

Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital. Picture: Jono Searle

The hospital has also insisted that any patient who becomes symptomatic for an infectious disease is immediately transferred to a “suitable unit” in the hospital.

The RBWH is a 20 hectare precinct in inner city Brisbane but staff say there is no more “real estate” at the complex to extend wards.

In October 26 2022 The Courier-Mail reported that RBWH staff were told there were 83 patients “to place” with minimal beds available and they needed to “prioritise discharges”

By October 28, staff were warned that “patients will be moved into corridors”.

“Please initiate discharge ASAP,” the message read.

On October 31, there were still no beds available, with 35 patients to place.

The RBWH spokesman said that Metro North Health was developing a master plan for the crammed Herston Health Precinct that would provide a structured plan for how the site will meet future demand.