Sick kids ‘denied care’ at new hospital

A BABY with a suspected perforated bowel, another with respiratory problems and a boy who travelled seven hours to Brisbane are among those routinely blocked from the city’s newest hospital, a rural health advocate claims.

Lady Cilento Children's Hospital, Hospital clinical report being handed down today. Photographer: Liam Kidston.

SERIOUSLY ill children have been routinely blocked from the intensive-care ward at Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Brisbane, a rural health advocate says.

Justine Christerson has challenged the hospital to tell the truth about how many children have been turned away since the hospital opened.

“I know of many ­urgent, Category One surgery cases cancelled because there were not enough beds in PICU (the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit),” she said.

“There have been at least half a dozen Category One ­patients whose surgeries were delayed or cancelled. They were forced to stay in region hospital ERs (emergency rooms) waiting for beds to be cleared in Lady Cilento.”

Mrs Christerson said a baby with a suspected perforated bowel from Hervey Bay and a Gladstone baby with severe respiratory difficulties were booked into intensive care but their treatments were delayed.

She said she was dis­appointed the hospital had attempted to downplay serious shortcomings.

“It’s absolutely appalling,” Mrs Christerson said.

“Lady Cilento is the only tertiary hospital for children in the state, so there is nowhere else for them to go.”

The Sunday Mail last week revealed an email from the divisional director at Lady ­Cilento, which told staff: “As has been the case all week — and to be expected in the foreseeable future — the hospital is at absolute capacity. In the absence of early discharges, major surgery will need to be cancelled.”

Justine Christerson says the hospital has downplayed its serious shortcomings. Pic: Jamie Hanson

Doctors and nurses were urged to attempt to discharge any patients they could before 10am each day as “usual practice”, the email said.

Mrs Christerson said that patient care was sometimes mismanaged.

She assisted a woman and her seven-year-old son who made a seven-hour train journey from Bundaberg to be told the boy’s appointment had been cancelled at the last ­moment.

“They were told to go home and come back another day,” she said.

She compiled a list of “broken promises” and gave them to Health Minister Cameron Dick, medical director John Wakefield and chief of the Children’s Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service, Fionnagh Dougan.

“Queensland Health is lying, and lying about Lady Cilento,” Mrs Christerson said.

“I met Cameron Dick, Dr Wakefield and Fionnagh Dougan and told them to their faces.”

The Sunday Mail’s coverage of the hospital’s performance, and what others have to say about it.

The hospital admitted sur­geries had been cancelled but denied patients had been “turned away”. It admitted many were redirected.

“On occasion, if a child does not require tertiary-level care and can be cared for safely at another hospital across southeast Queensland’s paediatric network, we will co-ordinate this,” Ms Dougan said.

Since opening, the hospital has referred 15 deaths to the Coroner. Ms Dougan said the list included six drowning deaths and other “unexpected traumatic deaths”, including a car crash victim.

“To date, no cases have returned with adverse coronial findings,” she said.

The hospital had 225 overnight beds but she admitted not all were staffed.

“We have the ability to ­increase our staffing levels when demand exceeds this number and this has occurred occasionally in 2015,” she said.

The Sunday Mail received a report from the hospital confirming children were turned away or redirected not long after the hospital opened. The report said: “One baby from The Townsville Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit has been transferred to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital NICU, awaiting transfer into the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital PICU and again, without any compromise in care.”

Since that report, The Sunday Mail understands that more babies have been held at the Royal Women’s awaiting transfer to Lady Cilento.