New calls for ICU at Gladstone Hospital after public forum

Gladstone-based Greens Senator Penny Allman-Payne says Gladstone is being treated as “little more than a glorified triage service for Rockhampton and Brisbane”.

There are calls for an ICU at Gladstone Hospital.

The fight for an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Gladstone Hospital has been reignited following a public forum about the region’s health system.

There have been calls for an ICU for Gladstone for the better part of the last 15 years and in 2018, it was reported the population would need to be higher than 100,000 residents to be eligible.

According to the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census, Gladstone local government area had a population of 63,515 persons.

A recent forum attended by more than 40 community members and local GP Gaston Boulanger heard how the hospital has been under-resourced for so long.

GP Gaston Boulanger.

“There are 70,000 people living in the region, there’s 70,000 reasons for an ICU … this is about the safety of 70,000 people,” Dr Boulanger said.

“Gladstone is a very important town, it is an economic engine where the money is made and the medical services are just appalling.

“We don’t have an orthopaedic surgeon, an ENT, or a neurologist.”

Gladstone-based Greens Senator Penny Allman-Payne said it is unfair that a major regional centre that generates billions for government and corporations gets “little more than a glorified triage service for Rockhampton and Brisbane.”

Senator Penny Allman-Payne. NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

“This is an industrial and manufacturing town,” she said.

“If there’s a major workplace accident that leaves multiple people in need of urgent medical attention, there is no way they can get the emergency care they need in Gladstone.

“That’s shameful.

“The people of Gladstone deserve a better deal, and we’re going to help them get it.”

It was a wishlist item of former member for Gladstone Liz Cunningham’s and one that she often lobbied for during her term between 1995 to 2015.

In her budget speech in 2002, she called for more funding for the hospital for an ICU and in 2010 she spoke in favour of a petition for an ICU.

It is understood there was an ICU at the Mater Hospital.

In April 2020, the State Government announced it was purchasing Gladstone’s Mater Hospital and there would be a dedicated COVID-19 ICU ward if needed.

Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service (CQHHS), which is responsible for Gladstone Hospital, was criticised for their Destination 2030 plan, which didn’t include any plans for an ICU.

CQHHS at the time said “longer term plans for an ICU in Gladstone will be developed when there is sufficient demand for safe and sustainable services”.

Dr Boulanger said the report was a stab in the back and went against everything the people and doctors of Gladstone wanted.

“All the news we discussed for many years,” he said.

“We didn’t want an ED, we wanted a level four hospital.”

Gladstone Hospital was downgraded from a level four hospital to level three in 2019.

“As long as this hospital doesn’t have a level four or ICU, we will not be able to attract doctors,” he said.

“The thing is you need an ICU to be able to work in a hospital, you cannot do an operation if there is no ICU, you can’t do an orthopaedic surgery without an ICU.”

Ms Allman-Payne said an ICU would provide a safety net for doctors and specialists to practise.

“That will attract other staff who will want to stay, and it means we can start building our hospital services back to where they were,” she said.

CQ Health’s Chief Executive Dr Emma McCahon. Picture: Aden Stokes

CQHHS chief executive Emma McCahon said Gladstone Hospital played a vital part in the provision of health services across Central Queensland.

“It continues to grow and improve and provides a wide range of specialist services,” she said.

Dr McCahon said health service development was guided by health service planners and experts.

“We use several tools to determine the priorities and best allocation of available resources that will get the best outcomes for our patients,” she said.

“Intensive care beds are measured across a broader community because of the high level of specialist care provided, and Central Queensland is currently well serviced by Rockhampton’s ICU.”

She said the former Mater Hospital had been refurbished to include three large operating theatres, with modern equipment and dedicated anaesthetic rooms and also includes pre-admission clinic, day surgery unit, cancer care services, radiation oncology satellite telehealth service, patient travel office and spaces for visiting private specialists and health providers.

The new $42 million emergency department at the Gladstone Hospital was also opened in August 2020 and has room to meet future demand, she said.

“We continue to assess the demand of our services to ensure we meet the needs of our community,” Dr McCahon said.

Originally published as New calls for ICU at Gladstone Hospital after public forum