EDITORIAL: sick of being patient, it’s time to act at Logan Hospital

This week’s move by Logan City Council to call out the state government over stacking patients in corridors at the Logan Hospital is telling.

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This week’s move by Logan City Council to call out the state government over stacking patients in corridors at the Logan Hospital is telling.

When a local government takes on a higher level of government about the state of a public facility, trouble is brewing.

Ambulances outside Logan Hospital last week.

But in this case, the problem has been an ongoing one that has not escaped the eagle eyes of state oppositions for more than a decade.

If predictions are accurate, there will be a 103-bed shortage at the hospital by 2021.

With a federal election in the next few months and nearly two years to go before the next state election in October 2020, the state government has the time to show it can really make a difference. But planning to fund expansions in the future is not good enough.

It is time for all three tiers of government to put aside bickering and differences over budgets and work together now to find financially prudent ways to tackle staff and bed shortages and safety and security deficits at the hospital.

With Logan expected to house 15 per cent of the state’s population growth by 2041 and figures showing a population explosion to 586,000 people from today’s 313,800, action is needed now.