Disturbing scenes: Absolute chaos as 30 ambulances ramped at Coast hospital

Gold Coast Health disputes claims patients were forced to use urine bottles in public areas of the Emergency Department in a dire ambulance ramping situation. Read the latest

An LNP and health whistleblower claim that patients in the biggest Gold Coast emergency department had to pass urine in bottles is disputed by Gold Coast Health’s CEO.

He says it was Berocca drink - but debate continues to rage about whether the claims are true or not.

Opposition health spokesperson Ros Bates claimed in State parliament she’d been told of “shocking and disturbing scenes” on Monday at Australia’s busiest emergency department, at Gold Coast University Hospital.

Ms Bates claimed patients were waiting for more than two hours on trolleys, not in cubicles but in hallways with paramedics checking their vital signs.

The situation became so chaotic that men were “passing urine in bottles in full view of the entire triage area”, she claimed.

“That is totally unacceptable and a degrading experience for all involved,” Ms Bates told Parliament.

But Health Minister Shannon Fentiman interjected, telling the Mudgeeraba MP: “That’s not true.”

Pictured is a bottle of Berocca in GCUH’s emergency department photographed on Thursday. Picture: Supplied

A health whistleblower has backed Ms Bates’ account but Gold Coast Health CEO Ron Calvert has also said “it’s not true” and he believed what has sparked the claims is a “bottle of Berocca” drink - which looks similar to urine - sitting on a counter.

On Thursday, Mr Calvert said hospital CCTV footage had been reviewed “twice” revealing no such incident had been captured.

Mr Calvert said the nurse unit manager working that day had also denied patients were seen using urine bottles “in full view”.

Instead, he believed a “bottle of Berocca” commonly consumed by ED staff had likely sparked the claim.

Ms Fentiman also doubled down on denials of Ms Bates’ claim.

“I can confirm speaker (Gold Coast Health) have now reviewed CCTV footage of the entire hospital on Monday afternoon and have not found one shred of evidence,” she told Parliament on Thursday.

“(They) found no evidence of anyone passing urine in the hallways. What I have found evidence of, Mr Speaker, is that staff regularly drink electrolyte drinks whilst on shift.”

But Ms Bates continued to respond, saying an image of a bottle of Berocca sitting in the ED tabled by Ms Fentiman was not the same location where a medical urine bottle was seen containing urine.

“The Health Minister’s photo is in the wrong area of the hospital,” Ms Bates told The Bulletin.

“For Shannon Fentiman to call our health workers liars is atrocious and shows she only cares about making herself look good instead of fixing the Queensland Health Crisis.”

The whistleblower also again reiterated to Ms Bates that urine bottles had been passed to ED patients on Monday.

The paramedic whistleblower has said a urine bottle was sitting in the ED because there were not enough nurses to take patients to the toilet.

“One emergency nurse was run ragged trying to help with toileting but no nurses … the urine bottle was sitting on the counter, men were requesting to go to the toilet but were given the urine bottle on trolley stretchers in the triage area,” the whistleblower said.

A Gold Coast Health spokesperson said it had not any official reports to substantiate the claims.

‘RAMPING DEBATE’

Ms Bates earlier on Tuesday was thrown out of Parliament during Question Time after a heated exchange about hospital staffing.

She had asked the Minister “exactly how many Gold Coast-based crews were free and available to respond to over half a million people” on Monday.

Ambulances ramped at the Gold Coast University Hospital. Photograph taken on Monday, November 27, 2023.

Health sources estimate during the day, the city has 36 available ambulances. On Monday, 24 were ramped at the GC University Hospital and 10 at Robina, they said.

A total of 52 ambulance crews arrived at both GCUH and Robina Hospital between 3pm and 6pm on Monday, November 27, according to Gold Coast Health.

Ms Fentiman estimated 15 ambulances had arrived within 10 minutes at the University Hospital.

“Most of those ambulances turned around within 30 minutes – staff at the Gold Coast University Hospital, one of our nation’s busiest, biggest hospitals, did an amazing job,” she told Parliament.

“Despite so many ambulances turning up at the same time, almost all patients were seen within the clinically recommended time frames.”

In Queensland, all patients who arrive at emergency departments should be seen within 30 minutes.

A Gold Coast Health spokesperson said: “All patients are off loaded and under the care of doctors and emergency nurses within the hospital. No patients wait in the back of an ambulance.

“On Monday, the average ambulance handover time for Gold Coast University Hospital was 28 minutes. The average ambulance handover time for Robina Hospital was 44 minutes.”

However in a Question on Notice, Ms Fentiman confirmed the top 50 worst wait times at Gold Coast University Hospital and Robina Hospital had all exceeded two hours between May and September this year.

Opposition health spokesperson Ros Bates — revealing the crisis caused by ramping at the Gold Coast University Hospital’s ED. Picture: Dan Peled / NCA NewsWire.

In July, GCUH’s emergency department recorded its longest wait time for the quarter with one ambulance ramped for about five hours. At Robina Hospital, one crew was ramped for just under four hours that same month.

Ms Fentiman said she had contacted hospital managers and while the ED was “flat out” on Monday it did not reach capacity.

“At the end of the day, they still had bed capacity for Queenslanders. That is testament to the amazing frontline staff at our Gold Coast University Hospital,” she said.

The Queensland Ambulance Service when first contacted to respond in a statement said there had been “very little ramping issues across the Gold Coast on Monday”.

“While the Ambulance Service experienced significant demand, our supervisors working with Gold Coast Hospital staff were able to obtain the quickest possible turnaround to put our vehicles back on the road,” the QAS spokesperson said.

The spokesperson later confirmed there was a period “where 30 or so crews were on the ramp – which is actually not unusual”.

“This also includes ambulance crews who are at the ramp but not with a patient. It could be that at (one time) 30 crews were at the ramp and then 15 minutes later it’s down to 20. The turnaround for our crews is fairly quick,” the spokesperson said.

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