Shock ‘drop, run’ claims against ambos as hospital staff ‘pushed to extreme’

Paramedics are being forced to leave patients with chest pains and in need of palliative care unmonitored at hospitals in an effort to get back on the road and reduce ambulance ramping wait times, staff allege.

Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Tim Nicholls. Picture: Liam Kidston

Paramedics are being forced to leave patients with chest pains and in need of palliative care unmonitored at hospitals in an effort to get back on the road and reduce ambulance ramping wait times, staff allege.

The shock whistleblower claims come as nurses have sent multiple letters to Health Minister Tim Nicholls detailing the allegations of patients being left in hallways without supervision at the overwhelmed Gladstone Hospital emergency department.

Gladstone frontline staff penned three separate anonymous letters to Premier David Crisafulli and Mr Nicholls this month pleading for urgent intervention to address unsustainable workloads amid a “growing risk to patient safety”.

It follows allegations in June that hospitals were manipulating patient data to meet the newly imposed 24-hour ED transfer target set by the LNP government.

In a letter seen by The Courier-Mail dated July 3, the day after Mr Nicholls told journalists there was no evidence of ED data manipulation to warrant an investigation, a Gladstone nurse wrote to his office: “We have, at times, been directed to re-categorise patients in the EDIS (Emergency Department Information System) system, moving them to “short stay” beds, not because they have physically moved, but to stop the 24-hour clock.”

Nurses said they are being “pushed to the extreme” at Gladstone ED due to minimal ward bed capacity and no dedicated mental health unit, alleging escalations of their concerns to hospital executives are going unanswered.

Gladstone Hospital.

Alarming claims include mental health patients sitting in ED for more than 120 hours awaiting transfer to Rockhampton, and palliative care patients being left by paramedics for triage nurses.

One Gladstone nurse told the Courier-Mail that paramedics had been directed to prematurely leave patients in order to reduce ramping wait times.

“QAS have a directive to tell the incharge nurse they are leaving the patient at triage so the nurses are left to manage those patients so the ambulance can get back on the road and not be ramped,” they said.

“You’re leaving people on the ramp, people in fast track with chest pains that are unmonitored.

“Palliative care patients on the ramp and they’re gone? And we didn’t know? That’s just abysmal.”

But Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service chief executive Lisa Blackler denied that patients were not being properly monitored and said Gladstone Hospital had opened additional beds and a transit lounge to address bed block.

“I absolutely refute that patients with chest pain are being left unattended in inappropriate spaces,” she said.

“All patients are triaged appropriately by senior ED staff and are cared for and monitored according to their clinical need.”

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman also said paramedics were conducting proper patient handovers.

It comes after Gladstone in April reported a significant 8 per cent decline in ramping, with 17.8 per cent of patients waiting longer than the recommended 30-minutes to be admitted into ED. This figure jumped up to 25.6 per cent of patients ramped in May.

A spokesman for Mr Nicholl’s office said Labor was to blame for the ongoing health crisis, which would take time to reverse.

“But the fresh start is already starting to reduce ramping and the elective surgery waitlist,” he said.

Queensland Health maintained that an investigation overseen by Director-General David Rosengren from June 18 found no evidence of the nurses claims brought forward by the Nurses Professional Association of Queensland (NPAC) however, staff say escalations are going ignored by the hospital.

Nurses have instead been encouraged to make formal reports through the Patient Safety Reporting System and the Public Interest Disclosure framework.

NPAC submitted a complaint to workplace health and safety on June 30 and three letters were sent to Mr Crisafulli and Mr Nicholls on July 3, 8 and 9.

NPAQ president Kara Thomas said she was disappointed by the lack of response from government.

“Gladstone nurses are raising the alarm because patients are being left in corridors, critical infusions are starting in unmonitored spaces, and mental health patients are languishing in EDs for days,” she said.

“Premier Crisafulli claims to be listening to frontline workers but we’ve sent letter after letter from nurses on the ground and received nothing in return.”

Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union (QNMU) secretary Sarah Beaman said the union was not aware of issues between hospital and ambulance staff, but had escalated complaints about unsafe workloads at the Gladstone Hospital.

“The QNMU has workload grievances underway with Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service (CQHHS), including at Gladstone Hospital,” she said.

“Our members have concerns around increased demand for care and associated unsafe workloads, bed blocks and patient safety and we are actively pursuing appropriate resolutions.”

Originally published as Shock ‘drop, run’ claims against ambos as hospital staff ‘pushed to extreme’