Revealed: One Queenslander a day dying with Covid in hospital

Worried doctors and a Right to Information request have revealed one Queenslander a day is dying after contracting Covid in hospital.

• Explained: The new Covid strains

One Queenslander a day is dying after contracting Covid while being treated in hospital for other medical conditions.

The shocking data has been revealed by worried doctors who say their patients are dying unnecessarily in the state’s hospitals due to inadequate infection control.

The data, obtained through Right to Information, shows the full extent of Covid-19 transmission in hospitals.

Between January 2022 and June last year an average 14 patients contracted Covid-19 daily, with one fatality recorded each day.

In May last year, 25 patients died after contracting the virus in hospital, and 23 died in June.

Concerns over infection protocols within Queensland Health have sparked the state’s peak medical body, the Australian Medical Association, to demand action from chief health officer John Gerrard.

The AMAQ says doctors on the ground are increasingly worried that their patients are dying unnecessarily and colleagues are becoming infected, sparking prolonged sick leave and staff shortages.

CHO Dr John Gerard at 1 William Street in Brisbane. Pic: Adam Head.

AMAQ president Maria Boulton and CEO Brett Dale wrote to Dr Gerrard in November but received no reply, and so followed up their concern again on January 11.

Dr Gerrard replied on January 18 stating that response protocols “must be balanced and proportionate”.

He told The Courier-Mail that transmission of Covid-19 does occur in the healthcare setting in Queensland, but that he could not confirm the data.

“Expert infection control teams within each health service assess the risk of Covid-19 transmission continually and implement measures based on that assessment,” he said.

Dr Boulton said the data confirmed what doctors had been reporting for a long time.

“Patients are going into hospital for ordinary procedures but catching Covid and becoming very sick or even dying,” she said.

“What’s worse is that we know this could be prevented with the right infection control measures and isolation units.

“We’ve written twice to the chief health officer urging him to ensure hospitals are implementing infection control measures to better protect patients and staff.”

When patients catch Covid in hospital, it can delay surgery or other important treatments.

“We don’t want healthcare workers to become infected in hospital either,” Dr Boulton said. “That just puts more strain on the workforce.”

AMAQ President Dr Maria Boulton.

A doctor who wanted to remain anonymous said mask-wearing and hygiene measures were not mandated.

“The community and healthcare workers are now making their own decisions on protection,” the doctor said.

“Some doctors will wear masks, others will not.

“I am aware of a patient dying after contracting the virus post surgery.

“It is inevitable that one day soon Queensland Health will be the target of a class action.

“In my opinion the lack of enforced safety protocols, where there is evidence that people are dying, is medical negligence.”

As of January 15 there were 311 people in hospital with the virus and 75 per cent of those were over 65.

Almost 6000 people over 65 have been diagnosed since December 1.

Covid has spiked in Queensland recently.

A total of 34 per cent have been hospitalised – 59 per cent of those did not have a booster in the previous 12 months. In three out of four hospitalised cases since December 1, it had been more than eight months since the patient’s last dose.

In his email to the AMAQ, Dr Gerrard said that in October, Australia’s chief medical officer declared Covid-19 was no longer a communicable disease incident of national significance. “The goal of Covid-19 vaccination remains the prevention of severe illness from Covid-19,” Dr Gerrard stated.

This month Queenslanders have been hit with a double whammy of two subvariants.

The wave was driven by XBB. 1.5, but since early December the JN. 1 subvariant has become dominant.