Opposition calls out government on Bundy’s increased ED wait times

While the LNP called out the government following increased wait times at Bundaberg Hospital’s emergency department, a hospital spokesperson said just over half of those patients were in the three most urgent categories.

Generic Bundaberg Hospital

The LNP have continued to call out the state government on the health system after new stats revealed an increase in Bundaberg Hospital’s emergency department waiting times.

The latest Queensland Health statistics for the March quarter, which were released last month, showed 12,471 people visited Bundaberg Hospital’s emergency department with a median wait time of 30 minutes.

The wait time figure put Bundaberg Hospital’s emergency department performance highlight in the yellow.

According to the Queensland Health website, yellow indicates the performance was out of range of the latest national performance, but was not in the poorest performing group of hospitals.

Opposition spokeswoman for health Ros Bates called out the government claiming they were “losing control of the health system”.

“Nearly one in two patients are stuck in the emergency department at Bundaberg Base Hospital longer than they should be. That is the definition of substandard care,” she said.

“That’s an unbelievable increase of 30.6 per cent since December 2020.

LNP spokeswoman for Health Ros Bates called out the state government after last month’s hospital data showed an increase in Emergency Department wait times in Bundaberg. Picture: David Clark

“These aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet. These are kids with a broken arm at Saturday sport, or your grandparent breaking a hip.

“Currently across Queensland, one in four patients aren’t seen within the recommended time frame.

“As a nurse and former hospital administrator, I know how stressful it is for our frontline staff who are severely under-resourced.”

A spokesperson for Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service said emergency departments across the Wide Bay saw a patient presentation increase of 7 per cent, putting increased pressure on local EDs.

The spokesperson said in Bundaberg alone, patients in the three most urgent categories made up 6648 (or 53 per cent) of the 12,471 emergency presentations in the first quarter of 2021.

“This has increased demand on our inpatient capacity and created additional challenges for our emergency departments as patients await admission. It does at times result in patients with less urgent conditions waiting longer for care as we look after these patients with more complex and what can be life-threatening conditions,” the spokesperson said.

They said despite the challenges of the increase demand 100 per cent of Category 1 cases, who have potentially life-threatening conditions, were treated within the recommended time frames.

Additionally, 82 per cent of patients were offloaded from an ambulance to stretcher within the recommended time frame during the first quarter of 2021.

“This good result is thanks to the hard work of our emergency staff and our partners at the Queensland Ambulance Service who are all committed to ensuring those most ill or injured are seen and treated urgently,” the spokesperson said.

“Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service is committed to providing the best possible emergency care for our community and we want to assure our community that everyone who turns up to a WBHHS emergency department will be treated and will be provided with quality care.

“We are continuing to monitor our presentation numbers and are reviewing our processes to maximise or increase capacity and improve patient flow from our emergency departments through to our inpatient wards, and work with partners and stakeholders such as the QAS and private hospitals to achieve this.”

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath applauded health staff for continuing to deliver excellent care despite the increase in patient numbers.

Ms D’Ath acknowledged there was an increase in emergency department presentations and the pressure the health system was feeling.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has been a contributor, but we are continuing to see increases in patient numbers unrelated to Covid as well.

“Issues around bed capacity and our ageing population, needs to be offset by innovate and robust models of care, including Hospital in the Home and the Satellite Hospitals programs, and further Commonwealth support for aged care and disability care.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath acknowledged there was an increase in emergency department presentations and the pressure the health system was feeling. Picture: John Gass

“We’re doing everything we can to alleviate the pressure on our hospitals, but the Commonwealth finding beds for the almost 600 aged care and disability care patients currently in our hospitals would be a welcome development.”

Ms D’Ath said dedicated frontline health staff were working every day to provide free, world-class health care to their fellow Queenslanders despite the pandemic and increased demand.

This year the state government delivered a “record $22.2 billion health budget” that will focus on recruiting frontline staff, building health infrastructure, reducing emergency and surgical wait times, and continuing to protect the state from COVID-19.

Queensland Health’s operating budget for 2021-22 is $20.885 billion, a 3.4 per cent increase on the 2020-21 financial year.

A $2 billion Hospital Building Fund was to be established to assist in meeting growth pressures across the health system.

“Of course there is also our planning work for the new Bundaberg hospital. We are doing the business case now and our $2 billion Hospital Building Fund allows us the ability to draw forward key capital funding when we need it, when these business cases are finished to start the construction of these major developments. We are very proud of the fact that we are establishing this fund,” Ms D’Ath said.

Originally published as Opposition calls out government on Bundy’s increased ED wait times