Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk Government failing Gold Coast Emergency Department patients: Ros Bates

Gold Coast Health has defended the “busiest emergency department in Australia” as hundreds were left waiting for over 24 hours and more not being seen “on time”.

Under-pressure Gold Coast emergency departments have had the second worst escalation in wait times across the state, with hundreds waiting more than 24 hours.

Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service had a 1245 per cent increase in those patients last financial year compared to eight years ago. It went from 53 patients in 2015 to 713 in 2022.

In the first six months of the financial year, that number sits at 560, with over 10,000 patients having endured the same statewide.

In Australia, the standard triage scale recommends Category 1 patients, the sickest, must be seen within two minutes of arrival. But Category 3 patients are recommended within half an hour.

Graph of number of patients waiting over 24 hours in Gold Coast Emergency Departments

GCUH has the busiest ED in the country but averages a 15-minute wait time per ED patient overall - and all Category 1 patients are seen on time.

Opposition leader for the LNP David Crisafulli said: “Patients are waiting on stretchers, waiting in emergency departments, and waiting to see specialists. No patient deserves this,”

But Gold Coast Health is adamant not every extended stay meant patients were not being seen.

Patients with “a volatile clinical status” may be required to stay for “repeated adjustments” and “treatment interventions”.

A Gold Coast Health statement said: “Looking at one line of data does not paint a realistic picture of the hard work being done in our emergency departments to see people in time.”

Shock images published by the Bulletin in February last year revealed at times patients asleep on the floor of GCUH’s ED.

Discharge delays, including inability to access aged or extra care, has left more than 100 patients spending up to two years at Gold Coast hospitals, a parliamentary committee heard last year.

Graph of percentage increase of the number of patients waiting over 24 hours at emergency departments across Queensland from 2015 compared to 2022

GCUH is Australia’s busiest emergency department, seeing more than 120,000 presentations annually including critical patients from the northern NSW border. During the quarter from October to December, 2022, GCUH’s emergency department attended to 31,237 patients.

Queensland Health data shows of all patients admitted to its ED, a third were not attended to within the clinically recommended time - an eight per cent increase from last year.

GCUH ED acting deputy director Dr Hayley Frieslich issued a grim warning to Gold Coasters last month to brace for longer wait times as the department grappled with an “unprecedented” surge in patients, causing significant delays to patient care.

Opposition Health spokesperson and Mudgeeraba MP Ros Bates accused the Labor State Government of failing to improve patient wait times.

Ms Bates, a registered nurse herself, said the delays were not the fault of “hard working” doctors and nurses but a sign of a widespread resourcing issue.

Shadow Health Minister Ros Bates during a news conference at State Parliament, Brisbane. Picture: Liam Kidston.

“These new statistics show the Palaszczuk Labor Government isn’t making any progress to ensure patients are being seen on time,” Ms Bates said.

Despite the increased wait times, Queensland’s healthcare system is leading the nation with the highest rate, 72 per cent, of patients “seen on time”, according to new national statistics. NSW dipped to second at 66.4 per cent.

Queensland Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Yvette D’Ath hit back against the accusations saying “the LNP should be judged on their record, not their slogans”.

“When it comes to health, their record is the sacking of 4400 health workers, including 1800 nurses and midwives, when last in government,” a spokesperson said.

“The Gold Coast lost 54 nurses during that time.”