Ramping blame on Queensland hospital bed shortage

Patients at Queensland’s biggest hospitals are being left on stretchers in corridors and hallways because there are not enough free beds in emergency departments.

Ambulances ramped outside the Princes Alexandria Hospital in Brisbane in March 2022. Picture: David Clark

Patients at Queensland’s biggest hospitals are being left on stretchers in corridors and hallways because there are not enough free beds in overwhelmed emergency departments.

New data from Queensland Ambulance Service reveals ramping rates – when ambulances are forced to queue outside hospitals because there are not enough beds to admit patients – have risen at nine of Brisbane’s 10 public ­hospitals.

Almost half of all patients arriving by ambulance waited more than the target 30 minutes before being admitted to hospital in southeast Queensland during ­December.

The data, released by the government in response to a question from the Liberal National Party, found ramping at the Princess ­Alexandra Hospital rose from 38 per cent in October to 46 per cent in December.

At the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Queensland’s biggest, half of all ambulances that arrived in December were ramped for longer than half an hour.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said the figures were deeply concerning. “That means the hospital is running at such capacity, the doctors, nurses and allied health professionals are under such stress that the ambo is unable to offload the patient,” he said.

Mr Crisafulli said when ambulances were forced to queue outside hospitals, they were delayed from picking up patients. “If dad is having a heart attack, or your kid is having an asthma attack or grandma falls and breaks a hip, the prospect of an ambulance turning up to help them in their hour of need is greatly diminished.”

At least one person has died while waiting for an ambulance in Queensland this year, double-vaccinated Brisbane man Derek Dewitt. The 77-year-old with Covid died in January after waiting more than an hour for paramedics to arrive.

The Queensland arm of the Australian Medical Association has called on the state government to bring on an extra 1500 hospital beds to fix the crisis.

“We know ramping is a big problem across the state,” said AMAQ vice-president Bav Manoharan. “These figures predate the Omicron outbreak, which took a toll on our EDs and ambulance services, with staff furloughed due to infection or being close contacts.

“We have been warning about these pressures for months. Our hospitals have been under severe pressure for too long.”

Queensland has 2.53 beds available per 1000 population – relatively unchanged from the 2.51 beds available when the Palas­zczuk government was first elected in 2015.

Problems with ambulance ramping and overcrowded public hospitals predate Covid-19, but Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the pandemic had put unexpected strain on the public system, and insisted it was a nationwide issue.

“I would love to have a magic wand and be able to fix this overnight. It is heartbreaking to see these delays; no one wants to see these delays but also no one has a quick fix for this,” she said.

Ms D’Ath said seven satellite hospitals across the southeast, promised by Labor at the last state election, would take some pressure off major hospitals even though they would not have emergency departments or overnight beds. The satellite facilities will have minor injury and illness clinics, renal dialysis chairs and oncology and outpatient services.

The AMAQ has called on both major federal parties to commit to restoring a 50-50 split of public hospital funding with the state government to address capacity problems.