‘Horrid’ night: 170 left waiting for ambos as health system grapples with ‘extreme’ demand

Some elective surgery has been postponed and tents are being used to treat patients outside emergency departments as hospital workers grapple with some of their busiest days in history.

Elective surgery has been postponed for two days in Brisbane’s south and tents used to treat patients outside emergency departments as the state’s hospital workers grapple with some of their busiest days in history.

Queensland Health confirmed a number of emergency departments across Queensland “experienced extremely high demand for services” Monday as a spokesman apologised to patients who waited longer than normal to be seen and revealed authorities were managing demand by deploying staff to the busiest areas.

It comes after The Courier-Mail reported 170 patients were left waiting for ambulances too busy to come on Monday night and ambulances left one busy Brisbane hospital in search of a hospital with capacity.

Ramping at Princess Alexandra Hospital, where some drove off from last night in search of hospitals with capacity. Picture: Liam Kidston

It’s understood Logan Hospital experienced its second busiest day on record, while Ipswich is being inundated with patients and Cairns hospital is also experiencing unprecedented demand following a record-breaking start to May in patient presentations.

Authorities blamed a run of respiratory illnesses and problems accessing GPs.

One high-level source said a refusal of many GPs to see people presenting with respiratory illness in case it was Covid was placing additional pressure on EDs as people seek care there as a last resort.

“Our frontline staff continue to provide exceptional service in the face of unprecedented demand and mounting pressure caused by COVID-19 and a growing population,” the Queensland Health spokesman said.

“It’s a testament to their skill and dedication.

“There was a notably large number of presentations for respiratory conditions, many of which would usually be treated by GPs.

“However, a shortage of GPs in a number of regions is placing pressure on the public health system.”

Ramping at Brisbane’s PA Hospital last month. Picture: David Crisafulli

EARLIER

One hundred and seventy patients were left waiting for ambulances too busy to come on Monday night following several days of extreme demand on the health system.

In what’s been described as an “incredibly busy” period by one health source, ramped ambulances at the Princess Alexandra Hospital on Monday were leaving to find other hospitals with capacity.

United Workers Union national ambulance co-ordinator Fiona Scalon told The Courier-Mail ambulances had lost 350 hours to ramping across the southeast on Sunday.

She said normally they lost 150-200 hours on a Sunday.

Ms Scalon said there was a queue of 50 to 70 people waiting for an ambulance all day on Monday which later hit 170 around 11pm.

“It usually hovers around 20 (at that hour of the night),” she said.

And she revealed ramped ambulances were leaving the PA Hospital on Monday to find another hospital with capacity.

“They don’t usually do that,” she said.

Ms Scalon said she didn’t know why the demand was so high.

“It probably comes back to the lack of beds, doctors and nurses,” she said.

But she said there wasn’t “some glaring thing that governments should be doing that they’re not”.

“It’s not unique to here,” she said.

The Courier-Mail has seen texts sent Monday to paramedics asking them to volunteer for additional shifts to help with the response.

One sent just before 4pm said there were additional night shifts available in Metro South and West Moreton.

Another sent just before 10pm apologised for the lateness of the text but asked those who could work additional day crews on Tuesday for Metro North and Metro South to call in if they were able to assist.

The health source described Monday night as “horrid”.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the increase in demand was because of a “number of factors”. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirmed “some of our hospitals have received an increase in demand” when questioned at her press conference on the Gold Coast on Tuesday morning.

“This is driven by a number of factors,” she said, pointing to continued cases of Covid and the numbers of aged care and elderly patients who should be in Commonwealth aged care and disability places.

“But also there’s an influx at the moment too of flu,” she said.

Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union president Beth Mohle said there was nothing particularly different about Monday night, with health under significant pressure constantly.

“The pressures on our system have been in neon lights really, to be quite honest,” she said, adding that was why unions had launched the Health Needs Urgent Care campaign to call for immediate and long-term solutions from the Queensland and federal governments.

She said health needed totally new policy and funding models.

“Unfortunately it’s not a more prominent feature of the (federal election) campaign,” she said.

“It’s not as prominent as we would like it to be.”

Queensland Health and Queensland Ambulance Service have been approached for comment.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said the latest scenes were “further evidence of a health system in crisis and a government without a plan to fix it”.

“Queensland has the worst ambulance ramping in the country and every night we hear a harrowing tale of another Queenslander becoming the latest statistic,” he said,

“The Premier today blamed Canberra, Covid and patients for yet another meltdown in our health system overnight.

“If she started listening to our frontline staff, she’d know there are solutions in place if the State Government had the discipline to implement them.

“I feel for the exhausted staff who worked around the clock to treat patients at the end of a ramp and the patients who faced lengthy waits at the end of a phone.”

Ambulances have responded to an average of 2527 Code 1 and 2 cases each day this financial year.

A QAS spokeswoman said the most common cases attended to by paramedics across the state included chest pain, falls and those relating to a mental health incident.

“In recent weeks we have seen an increase of cases related to Queensland’s prolonged weather events, including a number of serious road traffic crashes,” she said.

“The QAS continues to work closely with the Hospital and Health Services to reduce patient transfer delays and increase paramedic availability to respond to emergency cases in the community; and with nursing staff in aged care facilities, to provide the most appropriate care and response to ensure the best possible outcome for Queensland patients given the current system demand pressures being experienced by all ambulance organisations across the country.”

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Originally published as ‘Horrid’ night: 170 left waiting for ambos as health system grapples with ‘extreme’ demand