Health experts urge government to build new Toowoomba Hospital as emergency reaches crisis point

Medical professionals are urging the government to commit to a new hospital after new figures have revealed Toowoomba’s emergency ward has become a “ticking time bomb”, with patient numbers the highest doctors have ever seen.

CODE RED: AMA Queensland member and Australian College for Emergency Medicine spokeswoman Dr Kim Hansen is calling on the Queensland Government to build the new hospital as soon as possible. Pictures: Contributed

Experts say Toowoomba’s emergency department is a “ticking time bomb” as new data reveals a record number of admissions through our public hospital.

Darling Downs Health this week released data to The Chronicle, showing a large increase in emergency admissions earlier this year.

“(March) saw a record number of people attending the department for emergency care (5648 people). The average number of daily presentations for March 2021 was 182, which was up from 160 presentations in previous years,” a department spokeswoman said.

“Patients who were seeking medical care were also, on average, experiencing more acute illness or injury.”

Dr Kim Hansen. Picture: Ray Cash (contributed)

AMA Queensland member and Australian College for Emergency Medicine spokeswoman Dr Kim Hansen said the current situation in emergency departments across Queensland was the worst doctors had seen.

“There’s been a surge in patients this year – most hospitals are seeing record numbers and they just don’t have the staff or beds to cope. The system was already at full capacity and now it’s swamped,” Dr Hansen said.

“Emergency departments are the canary in the coalmine. They bear the burden when other parts of the health system are over capacity.

“Emergency doctors and nurses are happy to work hard to see all the patients, but they can’t do it well if they have to practice ‘waiting room medicine’. It’s awful, like putting a Band Aid on a stab wound.”

Dr Hansen said there were common reports of patients stuck for hours in waiting rooms and ramped ambulances across the state, and Toowoomba was no different.

“Despite the Base Hospital being quite old and far too small for the city’s growing needs, Toowoomba has, for a long time, had a very capable and experienced emergency department team who has managed a number of patients presenting incredibly well but they are also seeing their highest numbers ever,” Dr Hansen said.

“They are having occasions where ambulances are unable to offload patients into the emergency department, which is a very serious concern, especially when Toowoomba has a significant number of smaller hospitals that rely on transporting patients over for more serious medical emergencies.

“The Base Hospital covers a very wide geographical area and unfortunately the facility is just too old and small to cater to this growing and ageing population of residents.”

This map published by DDHS reveals what the new Toowoomba Hospital might look like.

Dr Hansen said a number of reasons could have caused the surge in emergency admissions, including returned overseas travellers, an increase in mental health admissions and serious viruses circulating in the community.

“We can assume that’s due to the anxiety and uncertainty of 2020 and the global pandemic, but we’re not sure about that,” she said.

“I think also that the community health resources are becoming overwhelmed. Access to GPs can be difficult at times, and certainly after hours there’s very little places to turn for help both for physical and mental illness and so people present to the emergency department.”

The DDH spokeswoman said the increased demand for medical services in Toowoomba was why the department was progressing a business case for a new facility on the site of the current Baillie Henderson Hospital.

Artist impressions of the new Toowoomba Hospital at the site of the old Baillie Henderson Hospital site. Photo: Supplied.

“A larger emergency department with more treatment areas, as well as more operating theatres and more beds feature in this plan and we are currently supporting our staff in a variety of ways to ensure they can do the very best job possible,” she said.

“Staff who are experiencing stress or burnout are encouraged to reach out for support and we have several measures in place to enable this process.”

Dr Hansen said she surged the State Government to act fast on the proposal.

“Toowoomba also has an elderly population and as that population ages, their health needs grow so this puts more burden on the hospital and other health service as a whole but especially the emergency department,” she said.

“I believe it’s been talked about and there are some plans being drawn up, but there’s not the political promise to build a new hospital that people desperately need.

“Toowoomba needs the promise of a new hospital with a much, much larger emergency department.”

Originally published as Health experts urge government to build new Toowoomba Hospital as emergency reaches crisis point