Sunshine Coast University Hospital hits capacity nine times in three months
A major Queensland hospital has been forced to declare nine times in a three-month period it could not cope with patient demand, with one election candidate declaring the region is in a ‘health crisis’.
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A major Sunshine Coast hospital was forced to declare nine occasions within a three-month period where resources were unable to cope with patient demand, data has revealed.
According to Queensland Health performance data, between April and June this year, the Sunshine Coast University Hospital escalated to a tier three capacity a total of nine times.
A tier three capacity indicates the hospital does not have the resources to meet the needs of patients and alerts the Queensland Ambulance Service of capacity.
In the single month of June the hospital was escalated four times, the data showed.
The rise in escalation cases is compared to the previous three-month period, between January and March 2024, when there were four escalations.
The data showed the average duration of each of the tier three escalations also increased to more than 60 hours in the most recent three months, compared with an average of nearly 47 hours in the three months prior.
A Sunshine Coast Health spokeswoman said escalating the hospital to a tier three capacity allowed for patients to be treated at hospitals across the region that best suited their needs.
“As a network of hospital facilities, a tier three escalation allows us to put the right patients in the right beds across our facilities,” she said.
“So, patients needing higher acuity care can be cared for in a bed for their needs, and a less acute patient can be moved to make room for that patient.”
LNP candidate for Caloundra, Kendall Morton, said pressure on the hospital had been the result of Labor policy resulting in a “health crisis”.
“The Coast is living the consequences of Labor’s Health Crisis,” Ms Morton said.
“3467 patients are waiting for elective surgery at Sunshine Coast University Hospital. A further 16,000 patients are waiting to see a specialist.
“Delays for these surgeries and appointments can have fatal consequences. I feel for the nurses, doctors, paramedics and allied health professionals who are doing the best they can with what they’ve got.”
Doctor and Greens candidate for Caloundra, Peta Higgs, said having worked with Queensland Health for decades it was unsurprising SCUH was “unable to cope” with the region’s growth.
“As a doctor who has worked with Queensland Health for 30 years, I’m not surprised that Sunshine Coast University Hospital is struggling to meet demand, as evident by the data showing that it reached tier three capacity four times in June,” Ms Higgs said.
“Our public hospitals are chronically understaffed and underfunded and simply unable to cope with community growth.”
Labor’s Maroochydore candidate, Naomi McQueen, said the government’s plans to build a satellite hospital on the Coast would ease the pressures currently faced at SCUH.
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