Redland Hospital sets up Covid tent and ‘buys in’ nurses as pandemic swamps southside

A bayside hospital which set up a temporary Covid triage tent in its carpark has been forced to “buy in” nurses to cope with flu and the pandemic. WATCH THE VIDEO

A bayside hospital has been forced to “buy in” nurses and set up a temporary triage tent in its carpark in a bid to cope with the state’s third Covid-19 wave which is smashing medical facilities across the state.

Redland Hospital, in Cleveland, has employed six extra agency nurses this year after being swamped with more than 15,400 patients in the past three months.

A temporary tent, set up outside the hospital’s emergency department to cope with Covid-19 cases, was criticised by patients this week who said they were kept in it at night in the cold.

The state recorded 8209 Covid cases in the past 24 hours with 26 people in intensive care.

More than a dozen elective surgery appointments were also postponed at Redland Hospital as the Covid-19 surge ripped through the southeast.

Redland resident Julie Mann said hospital staff were wonderful, but she was disgusted with being treated inside the ‘cold’ Covid tent in the carpark.

Redland resident Julie Mann said she was forced to spend a night in the “cold Covid tent” late last week while receiving an IV drip.

“When I wanted to use the bathroom, I had to walk through the waiting area in the emergency department,” she said.

“It’s a joke isolating people and then asking them to walk through the waiting area of the emergency department.

“I felt like we were living in a third world country. Health truly is in crisis.”

An elderly woman, admitted to the hospital two weeks ago, spent her first three nights in an emergency department cubicle waiting for a bed at the hospital.

Redland Hospital is buckling under the pressure of a Covid and flu outbreak. Picture: Judith Kerr

Members of the woman’s family said she was also not being showered daily and they were concerned after hearing staff rushing through corridors looking for spare beds.

Startling figures released by Queensland Health showed only one extra full-time nurse had been added to the hospital staff in the past year despite the pandemic.

There are presently 518 full-time nurses at the bayside hospital, compared with 471 in 2019 before the pandemic.

Metro South Health, which oversees the hospital, said it managed and monitored staffing levels in line with changing demands.

“This includes redeploying staff to areas where they are needed most, maximising the workforce through recruitment, and employing agency staff if required,” a spokesman said.

“This year, about one per cent of nursing staff at Redland Hospital have been agency staff, less than six employees.

“Our Tier 3 response involves a number of measures, including changes to planned services, delivering healthcare in other settings, load sharing across the region and partnering with private hospitals to deliver services.”

Redland Hospital is buckling under the pressure of a Covid and flu outbreak. Picture: Judith Kerr

Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union secretary Beth Mohle said pressure on staff from flu and Covid-19 cases had triggered health unions discussions with the state to improve access to special leave for nurses.

“Health workers are currently required to use all of their personal leave before they can access special pandemic leave,” she said.

“Many nurses and midwives have significantly or totally depleted their personal leave balances due to one, or multiple, Covid infections in their families and households.”

She said vaccinations and masks would reduce the pressure on Covid-19 wards.

Construction is under way at the hospital for a highrise car park and eventually a new emergency department and maternity ward.

State LNP MP for Oodgeroo Mark Robinson said it was unacceptable to triage Covid-19 patients in a tent, which he said was the result of seven years without expansion of the hospital.

He was alarmed at regular requests for hospital staff to do extra shifts or undertake overtime to cover shortages.

“Redland has nothing new built now ready in our desperate time of need,” Mr Robinson said.

“Queensland Health said they were expanding, but they have dragged the chain for so many years.

“Even during the two years of Covid, they have built nothing — and no new clinical wards.

“They have been lying to the public that there is an upgrade under way with their billboard claiming $20 million of projects, when all that was spent was $1.7 million on maintenance at the emergency department and a water birthing suite.

“They are all good facilities but hardly the promised hospital upgrade.”

Originally published as Redland Hospital sets up Covid tent and ‘buys in’ nurses as pandemic swamps southside