Bundaberg GP Dr Brad Olsen slams WBHHS referral system

A Bundaberg GP has criticised the Wide Bay Health Service for rejecting multiple patient referrals, and claimed patients are dying because of red tape and a desire to keep hospital waitlists down.

Dr Brad Olsen speaks out against the WBHHS and its referral process.

A popular Bundaberg doctor has spoken out against the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service, claiming the Bundaberg Hospital’s rejection of referrals is endangering lives.

GP Brad Olsen has been practising at the West Bundaberg Medical Centre for more than a decade, and said dealing with the hospital has become so difficult he had been left with no choice but to leave the region.

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“I’ve worked for 30 years in Queensland, and this is certainly the worst place I have ever worked,” he said.

He claimed the WBHHS referral system had become toxic, with three in every ten referrals rejected without fair reason or cause.

“They have referral rules you have to follow, and I follow the rules, and referrals are still rejected,” Dr Olsen said.

“Or they will find something else that’s not in the rules, and reject it for that.”

He said he believed the referrals were being rejected because of a lack of beds and poor resources at the hospital, and a desire to keep waitlists for procedures down.

“They don’t realise some of those patients will fall through the cracks,” Dr Olsen said.

The GP said this was particularly dangerous for patients who could not afford private health services.

An additional issue for regional doctors was they did not receive a copy of the rejected referral; only the patient did.

Consequently, many doctors were not aware their referrals were being rejected unless their patients made them aware.

Dr Olsen says the WBHHS referral system has become toxic.

“Sometimes they will provide a reason, but lately they haven’t been providing any reason at all,” Dr Olsen said.

Dr Olsen has fought for his patients; putting in complaints and calling surgeons directly.

“I can cite a patient who was sent back and forward between the hospital and the GP so many times, and eventually they were seen eight months later,” he said.

“By that point the cancer the patient had had spread, and they passed away.”

Dr Olsen was left so frustrated that his advocacy for one patient resulted in a ban from Queensland Health grounds.

“There was a lady with heart failure that I sent to the hospital for the third time, they saw her at the triage desk and sent her home from emergency,” he said.

“I was so frustrated, I went over there and said ‘I want to talk to him now,’ unfortunately I used a loud voice, but despite what they say I didn’t threaten anyone, I didn’t swear, but he still refused to see me.”

He received the ban a week later.

Dr Olsen said he knew of several doctors who had left the region due to ongoing issues with WBHHS red tape.

Dr Olsen said he had spent hours attempting to redirect referrals; even referring patients to other hospitals.

The ongoing ordeal had led to him approaching the police after he was asked to write a death certificate for another doctor’s patient.

“I got to the bottom of it, and they were discharged from the hospital, told to go and see their GP and they died that night,” he said.

“They should not have been discharged, that was blatantly obvious.”

The Bundaberg Base Hospital.

In hopes of bringing about change, Dr Olsen said he approached Bundaberg MP Tom Smith in August of 2022.

That discussion resulted in little follow up, he said.

Mr Smith said he approached Ms D’Ath, spoke with her chief of staff, and a report was submitted to the Health Ombudsman. An investigation remains ongoing.

The WBHHS said it was working with GPs through their new Smart Referral process.

A spokesperson confirmed that referrals could be returned to GPs with a request for additional information.

“Some requests for more complex health care needs may need to be forwarded to a different health service with capacity to provide the care requested,” WBHHS chief executive Debbie Carroll said.

“The safety and wellbeing of our staff, patients and visitors is a priority for WBHHS and we will take all necessary steps to ensure they are treated with respect.”

Dr Olsen said he was speaking out due to his unique position within the Queensland health system.

“I can rock the boat, capsize it, then burn it.”

Originally published as Bundaberg GP Dr Brad Olsen slams WBHHS referral system