Kimberley Lalor’s long wait to see an ENT through Rockhampton Hospital

A young girl who suffers from tonsillitis four to five times a year has been waiting to see an ENT specialist through Rockhampton Hospital, according to her mother. Full details.

A young girl who suffers from tonsillitis four to five times a year has been waiting to see an ENT specialist through Rockhampton Hospital, according to her mother.

Kimberley Lalor, 11, currently had swollen tonsils, with her mother, Tanya Carr, believing she may have tonsillitis for the third time this year.

Ms Carr claimed her daughter was sent a referral to Rockhampton Hospital for an ENT specialist, but it keeps being pushed back.

“She has what we call enlarged tonsils,” she said.

Rockhampton mother Tanya Carr (right) and her daughter Kimberley Lalor. Picture: Aden Stokes

“They’re that swollen, she’s finding it hard to breathe and Rockhampton Hospital keep saying she’s not an emergency.

“Two years ago we travelled to Ingham.

“Day three we rushed her to the doctor and the doctor we saw said they were the biggest tonsils she had ever seen.

“We came back and our local doctor has continuously sent letters to Rockhampton Hospital stating that she needs to be seen straight away, that she should be classed as an emergency.

“They keep declining it.”

Rockhampton mother Tanya Carr (right) and her daughter Kimberley Lalor. Picture: Aden Stokes

Ms Carr said she reached out to the hospital earlier this year for answers but was told her daughter was still on the waitlist.

“All they said was they needed a new referral from your doctor because that one had expired,” she said.

“I asked them why it had taken so long and they just keep putting it back onto Covid, saying because of the pandemic everything has been put back.

“I understand there is Covid but when it comes to your child waiting that long with tonsils that are that enlarged it’s pretty scary.”

She said she would like for her daughter to be “booked in” and “operated on” before she goes to high school next year.

Rockhampton Hospital.

“I don’t want her to have any of the time off she has had throughout primary school due to her tonsils,” she said.

“It is taking her two to three weeks to get over it and that’s two to three weeks of her schooling gone that she can’t get back.

“High school is going to be a big thing and she can’t afford to have that time off.”

Rockhampton Hospital executive director Andrew Jarvis said some specialist services had been impacted by the Covid pandemic over the past few years and that waiting lists had been longer than usual.

“We are doing our best to work through the waiting list and are seeing patients as quickly as we can, including outsourcing some cases to the private sector, and scheduling extra clinics wherever possible,” Mr Jarvis said.

It comes after Central Queensland Hospital data for the June quarter revealed only 53.6 per cent of category-two patients were treated within the recommended time frame, with ear, nose, and throat and orthopaedics significantly impacted by delays.