Breaking point for big four hospitals in northern Queensland

F`our largest hospitals in north Queensland issue ‘code yellow’ alarms, asking ambulances to divert as beds near capacity.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says ‘we have all of the processes in place’ to cope with a rise in Covid-19 cases. Picture: Dan Peled

The four largest hospitals in northern Queensland issued “code yellow’’ alarms on Tuesday, asking ambulances to divert as their beds neared capacity – a situation described by emer­gency doctors as “unprecedented’’.

Amid a funding row between Annastacia Palaszczuk and Scott Morrison on Tuesday, hospitals in Townsville, Cairns, Mackay and Mount Isa sounded separate “code yellow” capacity alarms.

Australian College for Emergency Medicine president John Bonning said the declaration of four code yellows in one day was “unprecedented”. The Queensland Premier last week warned she may not open her state’s borders even when vaccination coverage reached 80 per cent, demanding more federal money for the health system.

But the Prime Minister has described the demand as “shakedown politics” and said the commonwealth had given states and territories significant funding.

“NSW is getting on with it, Victoria is getting on with it, so Queensland needs to get on with it,” Mr Morrison said.

According to data obtained by The Australian, however, major Queensland hospitals are already at capacity despite the low number of Covid-19 cases.

Cairns Hospital, which has 668 beds, including 16 in its intensive care unit, was at 94 per cent capacity when it declared a code yellow on Tuesday

In Townsville, chief medical officer Niall Small does not expect to lift the emergency declaration at the city’s 742-bed hospital until Wednesday night.

Every one of Mount Isa’s 64 beds was being used on Tuesday night, including five in the ICU. Capacity also hit 100 per cent at Mackay Base Hospital, which has 243 beds, nine of which are in intensive care or high-dependency units.

Dr Bonning said hospitals in Queensland were in “crisis’’.

“EDs are full, wards are full, ambulances are ramped and there are not enough staff,” he told The Australian. “Our members have told us there have been deaths in waiting rooms in Queensland. Patients have died as a result of delay in care.

“Imagine if this was NSW or Victoria and you had Covid in the community, well, it is not too far away, given (the virus) is quite endemic in NSW and Victoria it is coming to Queensland soon.”

Kim Hansen, an emergency physician who chairs the Australian Medical Association’s ramping roundtable, said code yellows across north Queensland would cause a “gridlock” because patients were routinely transferred across the four hospitals.

“I would feel worried if there was a Covid outbreak tomorrow and what that would mean for Queensland’s emergency departments,” she said.

The Australian in early October revealed a discussion paper drawn up by top health officials from four states warned the hospital system was buckling under the strain – not only of Covid-19 but also routine care. The officials said the government should consider ­deploying GPs to hospital emergency departments to tackle workforce shortages.

National cabinet has discussed plans to surge ICU capacity as the hospital system comes under attack from rising case numbers as NSW and Victoria lift restrictions and state borders are reopened.

In NSW, there are 978 patients in hospital with Covid-19, down from a peak of almost 1300 in mid-September. There are 190 patients in ICU wards, with 94 requiring ventilation.

In Victoria, there are 517 people in hospital with Covid-19, with 101 of those in ICU. Just 6 per cent were fully vaccinated, with 66 per cent not having had a single dose of any Covid-19 vaccine.

In Queensland, Health Department officials will join a third round of crisis talks with emergency specialists, surgeons and doctors on Thursday night in a bid to address capacity issues.

Asked on Tuesday if hospitals were ready for an increase in Covid-19 infections as border restrictions lifted, Ms Palaszczuk said: “I think that is a bit of a hypothetical question because they have not had to deal with a Delta outbreak like NSW and Victoria before. I think we have all of the processes in place, people are working incredibly hard around the clock.”

Ms Palaszczuk said 600 public beds would be free if non-critical elderly and NDIS patients were moved out of hospitals.

Health ministers from every state and territory have signed four joint letters to federal counterpart Greg Hunt since April, saying bed shortages in aged-care facilities were delaying discharges in hospitals.

“These delays are diverting resources away from acutely unwell patients and are increasing the risks for those who should have returned to living in the community,” they wrote.

“The commonwealth response to these pressing concerns has been ineffective.”

Mr Hunt deferred questions to his department, which told The Australian state health ministers’ claims were “incorrect” and there were “vacancies across the residential aged-care sector”.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said all states and territories had called for extra funding because of “unrelenting strain” on hospitals. “This is a national conversation ... not a fight between the commonwealth and Queensland,” Ms D’Ath said.

Additional reporting: Olivia Caisley