Statistics reveal rampant ramping at Rockhampton Hospital

Paramedics are “crying out for help” as new statistics reveal just how bad ramping at Rockhampton Hospital is, and how long patients are waiting to be seen. Full details here.

Despite having 247 doctors, 992 nurses and 164 health practitioners in September last year, damning new figures have revealed the severity of ramping at Rockhampton Hospital.

The latest performance statistics for the facility in the December 2021 quarter shows 41 per cent of patients were ramped in an ambulance at the hospital’s emergency department.

The figures come as the microscope continues to zoom in on regional health in Queensland.

The average wait time at the Rockhampton Hospital ED was 24 minutes in the December quarter.

In total, Rockhampton Hospital’s Emergency Department recorded more than 14,000 attendances in the December quarter.

According to performance statistics on the Queensland Health website, the median wait time at the Rockhampton Hospital emergency department was 24 minutes.

The website says 52 per cent of Category 2 patients were not seen within the clinically recommended time of 10 minutes after arrival.

Queensland Health defines a Category 2 patient as “Imminently life-threatening. Patient should be seen by a treating doctor or nurse within 10 minutes of arriving.”

Meanwhile 46 per cent of Category 3 patients, 30 per cent of Category 4 patients and seven per cent of Category 5 patients were not seen within their clinically recommended times of 30 (Category 3), 60 (Category 4) and 120 minutes (Category 5).

Opposition Spokeswoman for Health, and also a registered nurse, Ros Bates, said paramedics were “crying out for help” calling Rockhampton Hospital “ground zero” for Ambulance ramping.

“Just recently we were in Chinchilla and Biloela and make no mistake, the ambulance ramping crisis is affecting patients out there as well,” she said.

“We heard horror stories about young mothers giving birth on the side of the road where the birth certificate states the Warrego Highway, we heard patients in Biloela couldn’t get an ambulance in time and the ambulance ramping in Rockhampton is affecting those areas.

“Rockhampton is ground zero for ambulance ramping in the regions - 50 per cent of ambulances are ramped there and that is just not good enough.”

The latest performance statistics for Rockhampton Hospital in the December 2021 quarter shows 41 per cent of patients were ramped in an ambulance at the hospital’s emergency department. Picture AAPImage/ David Clark

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said Queenslanders deserved better.

“These shocking figures show the extent of the Queensland Health Crisis right across the state,” he said.

“In Rockhampton, 33 per cent of all patients on the waiting list for the waiting list aren’t being seen on time and in Mackay 28 per cent also aren’t being seen on time for their specialist appointment.

“Meanwhile across Queensland, a quarter of patients in emergency departments aren’t being seen on time, more than 1 in 3 patients are routinely stuck in ambulances outside hospitals and almost 250,000 Queenslanders are on the waiting list for the waiting list.”

Executive Director of Rockhampton Hospital Kerrie-Anne Frakes said the hospital had faced “increasing pressure”.

“Rockhampton Hospital has faced increasing pressure from a sustained period of high demand, with a growing number of patients coming through the Emergency Department every day, which does cause ambulance ramping,” she said.

“At times there are surges of ambulances arriving, which does cause delays, however all patients are assessed on their clinical need and are closely monitored while they await an ED cubicle.

“Our staff have made a concerted effort to get patients off ambulance stretchers as quickly as possible and have more than halved the amount of time ambulances wait in the past six months.”

Ms Frakes said in 2019 the average of daily ED presentations at Rockhampton Hospital was 136, with that figure growing to more than 150 now.

“In the December 2021 quarter, 14,004 patients presented to Rockhampton Hospital ED,” she said.

“All of the most seriously ill or injured (Category 1) patients were treated immediately.

“Patients are triaged according to their level of clinical need, and the median wait time across all five triage categories was 24 minutes.”

Ms Frakes said the team at the hospital was constantly working to improve ED wait times and have even increased the number of beds available.

She said the hospital had also employed more nurses and linked with other services including integrated virtual care and hospital in the home to keep patients out of the ED.

“We have also introduced a Patient Access Coordination Hub which shows real-time activity across the hospital to allow better planning and ensure the right patient is in the right place at the right time,” she said.

“This is helping to improve patient flow and alleviate wait times. Rockhampton Hospital staff provide great care to Central Queenslanders, and I am proud of their dedication and efforts in these extremely trying times.”

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said Queensland, compared to other states, was performing better when it came to data around elective surgery and ambulances.

“Of course there is pressure,” she said.

“Now with the practices we have, around Covid, it takes additional time for every single ambulance that attends someone’s premises and then transports those individuals.

“Both in the PPE that they need to wear, the cleaning down of ambulances, the processes they have to go through, as well as the increased time in every single one of our hospitals in every person who walks into an emergency department or gets admitted and many are testing positive and we have to manage those people.

“All of these things are on top of the ever increasing demand on our health system that every single Health Minister in this country is talking about.”