Shorten pledges $33m to ease overcrowding at Logan Hospital

It is one of the busiest hospitals in southeast Queensland and is at capacity. It was also the first recipient of funding as the Labor Party kicked off its election campaign.

THE overcrowded Logan Hospital is the first recipient of election funding promises from the federal Labor Party.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten kicked off his eight-day tour of Queensland at the hospital this afternoon, announcing he would spend $33.4 million to build an Urgent and Specialist Care Centre at Meadowbrook if he wins this year’s election.

Ambulances outside Logan Hospital last week.

The hospital is in the marginal federal seat of Forde, held by the LNP’s Bert van Manen and is expected to be hotly contested by radiographer at the hospital Des Hardman for the ALP.

Mr Hardman said the hospital was at 100 per cent capacity “every single day” and said he was “looking forward to having the opportunity to ensure the funding commitment becomes reality after the next election”.

The proposed centre would operate around the clock but at a nearby site, not at the hospital.

“What we see at this hospital is a very crowded outpatients … so we are going to build an outpatients which will deal with urgent care,” Mr Shorten said.

“That’s going to make a big difference to the ability of Logan Hospital to deliver health care and a big difference to the health outcomes for the people who live in this fast-growing part of Brisbane’s southern corridor.”

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten with Forde candidate Des Hardman talking to staff at the Logan Hospital. PHOTOS: JUDITH KERR

Mr Shorten was speaking after the hospital was at the centre of claims last week of ambulance ramping and patients being treated in corridors due to a lack of beds and a massive increase in demand.

Labor’s Health spokeswoman Catherine King said the federal government had ripped out more than $6 billion from the current federal-state hospital agreement affecting the Logan Hospital’s outpatients department.

“We’ve had a fantastic announcement by the state government of $280 million redevelopment of this hospital but that will take time,” Ms King said. “So to take the pressure off, we made the announcement today of a $33 million urgent care clinic.”

State Opposition Health spokeswoman Ros Bates at Logan Hospital. PHOTO: JUDITH KERR

But state Opposition Health spokeswoman Ros Bates said the real cuts affecting the Logan Hospital came from Queensland Labor which she said slashed $39 million from Metro South hospitals in the past financial year.

“This just shows how out of touch Bill Shorten is,” Ms Bates said.

“There has been a population explosion in this region for a number of years.

“There would be $7.5 billion available to Queensland hospitals if Annastacia Palaszczuk put politics aside and signed up to the new national partnership agreement.

“What Logan needs is more beds now and more support for frontline staff, not more false promises and being taken for granted by Labor.”

But the blame game over the staff shortage and lack of funding in the Metro South Health District continued with federal Member for Forde Bert van Manen (LNP) defending the federal government and its new $130.2billion five-year funding deal.

“Since coming into government in 2013, the federal LNP has increased funding for the Metro South region, including the Logan Hospital by $265 million or 65.5per cent – growing from $404 million in 2013 to over $669 million in 2018,” he said.

“In comparison, the Queensland Labor government, between 2016-17 and 2017-18, cut funding for the Metro South region by $39 million.

“Labor’s funding cuts come at the time of increasing ambulance ramping across Brisbane and a reckless Queensland Labor government which has spent $500,000 changing the name of the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital.”

Mr van Manen said if re-elected, an Liberal National government would deliver more than $2.4 billion extra to Queensland hospitals this year.

It is expected that Labor’s promised new Urgent Care centre at Meadowbrook would treat 15,000 patients a year with the money coming from Labor’s $2.8 billion Better Hospitals Fund.