Rocky Ed like a ‘war zone’ as ambo ramping times blow out

Rockhampton’s overflowing ED has reached its “use-by-date”, says the LNP’s would-be health minister but Labor insists it’s got a plan to curb the chaos.

Shadow Health Minister Ros Bates in Rockhampton flanked by the LNPs Rockhampton candidate Donna Kirkland and Keppel candidate Nigel Hutton.

Ros Bates has likened Rockhampton Hospital’s emergency department to something from a “war zone”, releasing a report showing the longest ambulance ramping times there has blown out to almost 3.5 hours.

During a LNP campaign pit stop in Rockhampton on Wednesday the shadow health minister said ramping data between April and June this year found the longest wait time blew out to three hours 28 minutes while “other patients routinely waited more than two and a half hours”.

She said no patient should have to wait hours on the ramp when they are taken to a hospital and the new figures show the situation is getting worse.

“These aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet, these are Queenslanders in need of medical attention,” she said.

“Paramedics did not sign up to this vocation to spend most of their shift on a ramp, and it’s not the doctors and nurses fault.”

“All Queenslanders deserve a world class health system no matter where they live.”

She said the state ambulance ramping averages (more than 30 minutes waiting) under the Labor Government was now 43 per cent while Rockhampton’s was 48.1 per cent.

RAMPING: A family has spoken about a 15 hour wait time in Rockhampton Base Hospital's Emergency Department on Monday.

Her “war zone” comments came when asked if the Rockhampton Emergency Department needed to be increased in size.

“It looks like a war zone. Every time I’ve been in there, and it was only a couple of weeks ago I was last in your ED.”

“It definitely has passed its use-by date and when I asked (staff) if there was something on their wish list, (they asked for) a separate pathway for mental health staff patients coming into ED and that is part of our plan (for the hospital).”

The visit came shortly after an email was sent to The Morning Bulletin by a man who claimed to have been at the ED Tuesday afternoon and while full of praise for staff, said it was under major stress.

“The ED was absolutely packed, there were multiple ambulances ramped and the acute care area was overflowing. In acute care there were elderly people that were obviously distressed, babies and infants that were obviously distressed and there were also people in this area that were handcuffed to the desk with police guards,” he said.

The Morning Bulletin has attempted to contact the writer and has also put his claims to the hospital.

Ms Bates said if elected the LNP planned to heal the health crisis starting with “more resources, better triaging, releasing data in real-time and putting doctors and nurses back in charge to improve patient care”.

She said LNP would work with hospitals and health services to establish the number of extra beds Rockhampton hospital required and train and hire the workforce to support that increase.

She also said they would establish additional space at the hospital by moving substantial nonclinical facilities to nearby TAFE buildings in Canning Street which would become vacant as part of the LNP’s $61.1m TAFE Precinct of Excellence expansion plan for the North Rockhampton Campus (an election promise).

“You can put as many beds as you like in but you need to have the workforce there as well,” she said.

“That’s a double pronged thing. Firstly you need to retain the staff that you have.

“They are tired, they are exhausted. It is the nurses, the doctors, paramedics, allied health workers, who are the ones suffering.

“We need to keep them in their jobs and make sure the culture change is in place and importantly attract young people to the region and that involves putting together packages to support their families (job opportunities, schooling etc).”

Premier Steve Miles hit back at the LNP claims, accusing the opposition of spreading fear into the community.

He said in July and August, around 3000 more patients statewide were transferred off stretcher within 30 minutes compared to the same time last year, resulting in a 1.6 percentage point improvement in patient off stretcher times to 56.9 per cent.

He said ED wait times had also improved significantly, with Townsville, Mackay, and Central Queensland hospitals leading the way in faster patient care.

Rockhampton improved 15.7 per cent in the number of patients seen in clinically recommended time frames and recorded a 13 minute improvement to median wait times while Gladstone recorded a three minute improvement to wait times.

“I will deliver more doctors, more nurses, more ambos and more allied health workers, because that’s what matters,” he said.

”More staff working in bigger, better hospitals and satellite hospitals, combined with even more hospital beds where they are needed, will help relieve pressure on our busy hospitals.“

Minister for Health Shannon Fentiman said the LNP hadn’t detailed how it would reduce ramping or stabilise wait lists and didn’t have any funding allocated to get long-stay patients out of hospital and into aged or disability care.