Revealed: 1900 Gympie patients waiting longer than needed for specialists

A 70-year-old woman’s two-and-a-half year wait for an appointment about her thumb is one of 2000 examples across the Gympie region of people forced to wait longer than clinically recommended for their first specialist appointment, new figures have revealed.

Amamoor resident Ella Holland is among almost two thousand of the region's residents waiting longer than clinically recommended for an initial specialist appointment, new figures released by the state government reveal.

For Amamoor IT hobbyist Ella Holland the past two years have been a painful wait on a seemingly never-ending list.

The 70-year-old, afflicted with osteoporosis in her right thumb, said her inability to pay a $3000 excess for private surgery in late 2020, forced her to instead endure a two-and-a-half-year wait in the public system.

“I’ve been living with it for so long, it’s just there,” Ms Holland said, adding her condition had made everyday things like driving or opening bottles difficult, if not impossible.

She has not been alone in her wait.

New figures released by the state government have revealed almost half of Gympie region patients seeking an initial specialist outpatient appointment are waiting longer than the clinically recommended times.

As of January 1, 2023, there were 4498 residents waiting for an initial outpatient service event.

Of these, 1989 had been on the list for longer than they were supposed to.

Gympie LNP MP Tony Perrett says the figures, which reveal almost one in 10 Gympie region residents are on the public waiting list, are more evidence of a health system “in crisis”. Picture: Shane Zahner

The figures were released by the government following a question on notice from Gympie LNP MP Tony Perrett.

The worst wait was for rheumatological services, with more than three quarters of the 116-long waiting list left in the lurch.

Urology service was not far behind, with 71 per cent of the 235 people on the list waiting longer than recommended.

More than 60 per cent of patients waiting for neurological and ophthalmological, appointments were in a similar situation.

Other services where more than half of residents were waiting longer than they should included dermatology, ear nose and throat, gastroenterology, neurosurgery, orthopaedics, and respiratory.

Each service’s had less than 10 per cent of their waiting list on it longer than recommended.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said in response to LNP MP Tony Perrett’s Question on Notice the state had experienced a 46.7 per cent increase in specialist outpatient demand since 2016. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

There were no patients waiting longer than recommended for cardiac surgery, obstetrics or pain management.

A Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service spokeswoman said the region’s services were facing “unprecedented demand” for health services in the middle of the Covid pandemic.

“In the last reporting quarter of October to December 2022, our frontline health workers supported 4.8 per cent more initial specialist outpatient appointments compared to the same time in 2021,” the spokeswoman said.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said in response to Mr Perrett’s question the Covid pandemic had a “significant” impact on planned care across the state.

“Across Queensland there has been a 46.7 per cent increase in specialist outpatient demand since 2016,” Ms D’Ath said.

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Hospital and health services across the state were “working hard” to improve waiting times, she said, with “multiple strategies” in place, including recruiting additional specialists where possible, increasing the use of general practitioners with special interests, nurse practitioners and allied health practitioners to improve services.

Mr Perrett said the figures were the latest evidence of a regional health service “in crisis”.

“That’s almost one in every ten people (in the region),” Mr Perrett said.

“My office is receiving more and more examples of residents seeking help because they are not being seen in time or given an appointment,” Mr Perrett said.

“The statistics for those waiting for specialist treatment of Orthopaedics, Ear Nose and Throat, and Ophthalmology are particularly concerning.

Amamoor resident Ella Holland said the prolonged wait for an appointment about the thumb on her right hand had resulted in a more serious injury to her left as a result of favouring it, and it was now the hand set to have surgery on it.

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“In those three specialties alone, there are 1847 waiting for an initial specialist outpatient appointment, and 1065 have been waiting longer than the clinically recommended times.”

Ms Holland had been left “frustrated” by her experience.

The problems with her right hand forced her to favour the left, she said, which had developed problems so bad it was now the one actually booked in for surgery.

She had now been diagnosed with a tear in her left hip, and she was afraid it would mean seeking help through the public system would mean another two-year wait to be seen by a specialist.

“I think I just have to get used to living with pain,” Ms Holland said.

Originally published as Revealed: 1900 Gympie patients waiting longer than needed for specialists