Minister refuses calls to sack board over Redland ramping stats

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath has refused to bow to calls to sack a southside hospital’s nine-member board after the health facility recorded the worst ramping figures in the state’s history.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath has refused to sack a nine-member board amid calls for its dismissal following a southside hospital recording the worst ramping figures in the state’s history.

Startling statistics around ramping at Redland Hospital, on Brisbane’s bayside, prompted calls from both sides of politics for top health officials, including the minister, to be sacked.

Queensland Health figures released on Wednesday, showed Redland Hospital, in Cleveland, recorded a 73 per cent ramping rate.

It equated to a staggering three out of every four people trying to get into the hospital in July were left waiting in an ambulance for more than 30 minutes.

Minister D’Ath did not respond personally to the calls to sack the board and has remained silent on whether she would intervene and take control over planned construction works at the Cleveland facility, which are controlled by the board.

Capalaba MP Don Brown called for Metro South Health board’s dismissal on Wednesday saying the seven directors and two chairs were “at sleep at the wheel” and he had been lied to about upgrades to the hospital.

But a spokesman for the Minister on Thursday said Ms D’Ath did not agree with Mr Brown’s comments and she was happy to organise a meeting between him and the Board chair to talk about his concerns.

The meeting will take place on Friday with Metro South Health’s new acting CEO Noelle Cridland.

The meeting comes after two years of turmoil at Metro South Health following the sacking of former CEO Stephen Ayre in April 2019.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath at the Redland Hospital expansion construction site. PHOTO: John Gass

Mr Brown said at a meeting with the board in March he was told a stage 1 upgrade tender would be finalised in April with construction to start in August.

“We have not even seen construction commence and Metro South Health has had the funding from the state government for this upgrade in the bank account for two years now,” he wrote in a missive to constituents.

“It is completely unacceptable and that is why I am calling on the Health Minister to sack the board and take over responsibility and get on with the construction.”

Metro South Health, the Health Department and were contacted for comment.

Oodgeroo MP Mark Robinson (LNP), whose electorate covers the Redland Hospital, said he was appalled at the statistics and called for Health Minister Yvette D’Ath to be sacked.

Mr Robinson said the hospital had been missing out on much-needed upgrades and the call for the board to be sacked was a political stunt to divert attention away from the crisis.

“Labor has sought to divert attention away from their beleaguered Health Minister, by targeting hospital boards of the health system,” he said.

“For seven years, I have listened to our doctors, nurses and staff tell me what is really going on behind closed doors and I have raised these matters in the Parliament to fix them.

“Redland Hospital has been slowly dying from Budget malnutrition and local Labor MPs knew about it, misled the public about how serious it was, attacked other MPs who tried to expose the truth, and have blamed everyone else but themselves.”

Mr Robinson said it was unlikely the board would step down and said the minister already had control over construction works at the hospital.

“She is the accountable minister above the board and approves the board’s Budget and priority of projects for construction,” Mr Robinson said.

“She also approves the board members and she should be across her brief but the problem at Redlands is she is not.

“That’s the problem — the minister has had control over the project and it’s failed,” he said.

“Has the Health Minister asked Mr Brown to blame the board so in a targeted political move she can then move in and sack them?”

Mr Robinson called for an independent review into the failure to deliver the Redland Hospital upgrade on time and including interviewing board members, hospital administrators, the minister and local MPs. He said he wanted all findings to be made public.

Mr Brown said the construction was the board’s domain.