Queensland cancer patient denied home quarantine believes hotel system is a shambles

A cancer patient who was one of the last Queenslanders to make it over the NSW border before it was shut has been denied an exemption to quarantine at home and he fears the hotel bill will mean he can’t afford treatment.

A Gold Coast cancer patient currently in hotel quarantine has told of the dysfunction plaguing the system and believes his pleas for an exemption have ‘fallen on deaf ears’.

Terry Brown and his wife Michelle were part of the lucky few who made it north of the border before the Premier’s sudden decision to block interstate travel earlier this week.

After travelling to Sydney on compassionate grounds mere days before lockdowns were enforced in June, Mr Brown, 70, learnt of his prostate cancer diagnosis after undertaking seemingly routine blood tests.

Terry and Michelle Brown in hotel quarantine on the Gold Coast after request to Queensland Health for an exemption was denied.

Queensland Health rejected his exemption application to home quarantine and now the Gold Coast man fears his application to have his fees waived will also be denied.

“My mental and physical health got to the point where I couldn’t do it any longer, that’s why we returned home to Queensland” he said.

Mr Brown has said there was little co-ordination between health, airport, and hotel staff after he landed at Gold Coast Airport this week, with the process taking almost five hours between landing and arriving at their quarantine room.

“We arrived at the hotel and were trapped on the bus for almost an hour, we could see the hotel manager doing laps of the building on the phone with their hands up in the air, it’s like they didn’t know we were coming,” he said.

“There was a significant waiting time, with about 120 people placed onto the two buses before we were shipped off, people were just desperate to eat and use the toilet.”

Mr Brown was shocked with how often they were processed and screened between different locations, and had the sense there was little organisation between staff.

“They’ve had almost eighteen months to sort this out but honestly with the amount of backlog and disorganisation it felt as if it were being run by volunteers” he said.

“If the system is so overwhelmed, why can we not then quarantine from home?

“It feels political, the back and forth between state and federal governments, it’s a shambles.

“We are quarantining in an adjoined room with a young family whose child screams through the night, it impacts us but I can’t imagine how difficult it would be for the parents having many sleepless nights.

“We have called hotel management and suggested they move us so the family has more space, but they just can’t, there’s no consideration for people’s circumstances.”

Originally in Sydney to care for family members, Terry underwent treatment which has been unsuccessful and has returned home to undergo further care.

“When you are on the phone to them (Queensland Health), you just get a sense they do not care and it’s onto the next one, I feel like my situation has fallen on deaf ears” Mr Brown said.

“If my hotel quarantine invoice is not waived, I will be unable to afford my private health bill to get treatment here.”
Mr Brown and his wife are both fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

Originally published as Queensland cancer patient denied home quarantine believes hotel system is a shambles