Victoria Cross recipient Daniel Keighran calls for more hospital resources after seven-hour ambulance wait in Brisbane

A decorated Queensland veteran has called for more resources at state hospitals after being left to wait seven hours for an ambulance in Brisbane.

Victoria Cross recipient Daniel Keighran has called for more hospital resources in Queensland after he was left waiting seven hours for an ambulance, spending most of the time on his bathroom floor.

The decorated Queensland veteran and author took to social media this morning to share his experience waiting for medical assistance in Brisbane after suffering a serious respiratory infection.

“This is not a negative post … I’ve experienced some rough times over the years. Last night takes the cake. 7 hour wait for an Ambulance. I ended up spending the last few hours on the bathroom floor,” he wrote in the caption.

VC recipient Daniel Keighran was left waiting seven hours for an ambulance. Picture: Instagram.

Keighran went on to praise the hospital staff and the Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics, but said they were “seriously” in need of additional resources.

“I wanted to thank @qldambulance and the @royal_brisbane_hospitals_nurse for giving me the best drugs (love you all!)… However, you are seriously in need of more resources. Also wanted to thank the amazing people in my life for dropping everything to help me. You know who you are,” he wrote.

Keighran received a flurry of comments wishing him well, and replied to one person to say he was feeling fine and that he had ended up with a serious respiratory infection.

“I think the World is telling me I need a break,” he wrote.

QAS assistant commissioner David Hartley said the general public was always encouraged to call triple-0 in the case of an emergency, however the team would always prioritise those who required urgent care.

“We need the general public to understand if you call an ambulance because you need it and we deem it an emergency, we’ll be there as soon as we can,” Mr Hartley said.

Victoria Cross recipient Dan Keighran. Picture: Mark Cranitch

In light of pandemic pressures on the health system, Mr Hartley said the industry has now recognised new ways of treating patients and conducting triages.

“The days of putting more paramedics on the road to take more people to hospital are long gone, we need to do things smarter and put patients into the health care sphere more appropriately,” he said.

Opposition Shadow Health Minister Ros Bates said Keighran was “yet another Queenslander who’s been failed by a broken system”.

“It’s unacceptable for any Queenslander to wait hours for an ambulance,” she said.

As a nurse and former hospital administrator, I know how frustrating it is for paramedics and patients.

“These dedicated men and women don’t want to spend their entire shift sitting at the end of a ramp, while other calls go unanswered.”

Ms Bates said the LNP has suggested more beds, improving triaging, real time data monitoring and giving power back to local health professionals as potential solutions.

In 2012, Keighran was awarded the country’s highest award for gallantry, the Victoria Cross for Australia for his work in Afghanistan.

Keighran has just recently returned to Australia after attending Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in the UK.