Logan Hospital heart catheter labatory turned into day surgery unit soon after opening

A $4 million laboratory at a southeast Queensland hospital, which opened to great fanfare four years ago, has only rarely been used for its intended purpose.

A $4 MILLION heart catheter laboratory at Logan Hospital, which opened to great fanfare four years ago, has only rarely been used for its intended purpose, despite plans for 800 cardiac patients to be treated there a year.

The catheter laboratory, built in one of Queensland’s fastest growing regions, was tested briefly as an interventional cardiology facility before being converted into a day surgery unit soon after its opening.

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Southeast Queensland public hospitals at full capacity

It was again used for what it was designed for last year when specialists performed 81 cardiac procedures while the Princess Alexandra Hospital catheter laboratory was being upgraded.

Logan Hospital’s emergency department has been under extreme pressure this year, partly because of the number of patients taking up beds for days while waiting to be transferred to other facilities for treatment. Among them are patients waiting to be taken to the Princess Alexandra or Prince Charles Hospital for treatment in a cardiac catheter laboratory.

Procedures that Logan’s catheter laboratory was expected to perform included pacemaker implantations, imaging of coronary blood vessels and stent insertion.

When announcing the Logan cardiac catheter lab in mid-2014, former Health Minister Lawrence Springborg said about 1000 patients from the Logan area travelled to other southeast Queensland hospitals to access interventional cardiology services annually.

He said the new lab would significantly reduce the number of patients requiring transfer to other hospitals and cut the time patients were required to stay in hospital while waiting for treatment.

Logan Hospital

Mr Springborg said the Logan lab would also create additional capacity at bigger hospitals, such as Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra, for high-risk patients who required more complex procedures.

Controversy over the multi-million dollar Logan catheter lab comes after the decision by the Metro South Hospital and Health Board to terminate the contract of its highly respected Chief Executive Dr Stephen Ayre, who had held the position since July 2017.

Prior to that he was the PA Hospital’s executive director for more than three years.

Opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates said that for the Logan catheter lab never to have operated at capacity was more proof of the “dysfunction in Metro South”.

A Metro South spokeswoman said last night almost 4000 Brisbane southside patients received “world-class interventional cardiology care” at the PA Hospital’s heart catheter laboratory annually.

“Two theatres were opened in 2014 at Logan Hospital, a day surgery theatre and a theatre/cardiac catheter laboratory,” she said.

“The second, dual-use theatre is currently being utilised to meet an increase in demand for endoscopy services, as well as minor interventional cardiology when required.

“The dual-purpose theatre/cardiac catheter laboratory’s current use for endoscopy services has seen a just over 40 per cent increase in the number of endoscopy services to the local community between 2015 and 2018.”