‘Stressed’ Lady Cilento Hospital doctors losing their patience

UPDATE: As doctors vent their fury at conditions at Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital, Queensland’s Health Minister has stepped in.

HEALTH Minister Cameron Dick has hinted the beleaguered Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital could be in line for a funding boost, following a string of controversies.

Mr Dick made the comments before entering Monday’s Cabinet meeting.

“I’ve been concerned about Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital for some time, that’s why I ordered a commissioning review into the hospital,” he said.

“At my direction, the Department of Health has been working with the hospital on securing a proper funding base for the hospital for the future.

“And I hope to say a little bit more about that in the near future.”

Mr Dick did not take any questions.

OVERNIGHT: FURIOUS doctors are demanding more beds and nurses to fix problems at Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital.

Doctors have for the first time publicly raised concerns at the hospital, saying there is a serious backlog of critically ill patients requiring beds.

Australian Medical Association Queensland president Dr Chris Zappala said doctors want the hospital fixed and have demanded the State Government listen to the concerns of medicos at the coalface instead of hospital administrators.

The concerns echo those of parents of sick children at the South Brisbane hospital, and patients advocates who warned system bungles meant appointments were being missed with potentially fatal consequences.

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Other doctors have told The Courier-Mail medicos are leaving because they are concerned about the quality of care at the hospital.

“It needs to be fixed properly and quickly,” Dr Zappala said. “Administration at LCCH should be listening very carefully to what their staff are saying and implement the things they say.”

Parents have told The Courier-Mail that appointment delays and IT bungles have meant their children continue to miss vital appointments and treatments.

According to Dr Zappala administrative errors point to the need for more funding.

“There are some inadequacies in the booking systems which reflect old processes or a lack of maturity in the new processes,” Dr Zappala said.

Dr Chris Zappala says things need to be “fixed properly and quickly”.

“There needs to be an acceptance within the department that LCCH is going to require ongoing investment beyond what might have been originally projected to ensure that our vision for a single tertiary hospital for paediatric services in Queensland is realised.”

He called on the Government to “genuinely engage with clinicians” rather than administrators on how to deliver the best care for Queensland children.

“They need to have a voice and they need to be heard,” Dr Zappala said.

“There’s nothing more disheartening than having a really obvious problem that would quickly solve a number of stresses in the system and not getting a solution to that.”

Dr Zappala pointed to the lack of parking for staff and patients, restricted ability for staff and patients to access food and administrative errors as major factors of concern for his members.

The Courier-Mail has been told that significant turnovers in LCCH staff have left some doctors suffering “huge amounts of stress and physical illness”.

“If you build a hospital when you haven’t satisfied any of the criteria for a top children’s hospital it’s going to be rotten throughout,” one doctor told The Courier-Mail.

“The doctors are leaving because they think that the hospital isn’t safe and they can’t look after their patients as they have been trained to do.

“If this entails more resources, more beds, more staff than they must realise that may have to be prioritised above other objectives so that we can realise the vision for LCCH.”

Rural health advocate Justine Christerson said she “fully supported” the AMAQ.

Action was needed soon.

“These concerns reflect the same concerns that parents have so if everyone has the same concerns why isn’t anyone addressing the issues to make sure change occurs?” Ms Christerson said. “Children are missing vital appointments which can be a matter of life and death for some.”

A spokeswoman for Children’s Health Queensland said they were involved in “regular discussions” with clinical staff and the AMAQ.