Long-stay patient numbers ‘highest it’s ever been’ in QLD despite $200m investment

The number of Queenslanders languishing in hospital longer than needed has hit a new high, despite $200m to combat the issue. WORST AFFECTED REGIONS

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman with Premier Steven Miles on Sunday. Picture: Richard Walker

The number of Queenslanders languishing in hospital longer than needed due to a lack of aged care or disability help has hit a new high, despite the state government pumping $200m to combat the issue.

There were 964 long-stay patients across the state as of the end of February — enough to fill nearly every bed at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

The figures were released as part of the latest tranche of Queensland Health performance data, which also showed ambulance ramping had hit a record high, with 45 per cent of patients waiting more than 30 minutes to get into the emergency department in the first quarter of 2024.

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman said the demand on the health system had been unprecedented, and pointed to Queensland’s rapidly growing and ageing population as a factor.

The number of long-stay patients — people who have been in hospital for 30 days or longer but can’t be discharged due to a lack of appropriate outside care — has jumped 53 per cent since June 2023.

It has also increased since last November, when Ms Fentiman announced a $200m package over two years to alleviate the issue, which included booking up spots in aged-care homes to free up hospital beds.

She argued while there were more long-stay patients, they were discharged into appropriate care quicker, thus improving patient flow across the system.

Opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates with Opposition Leader David Crisafulli

The $200m package has led to 159 long-stay patients being moved to “interim care beds” where people are cared for by Queensland Health staff but at a private facility.

“Yes, it’s the highest it’s ever been but the amount of bed days that they are staying has shortened,” Ms Fentiman said.

“We’re doing our bit with a $200m investment to move long-stay patients out.

“We are getting them through more quickly, but they keep coming and the federal government needs to work with us to find solutions because a lot of this is about the capacity of our aged care sector.”

Opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates took aim at Ms Fentiman for the state recording the worst ambulance ramping figures in its history, saying the Health Minister had failed to improve the metric despite labelling it her number one priority.

Ms Bates, for the first time, called for Ms Fentiman to be sacked from the role, claiming the new figures showed she was “either incompetent at her job” or not focused on improving the system.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli was critical of the government’s decision to release the health data over the weekend, accusing them of attempting to “bury the bad information”.

Other state health performance markers revealed Queensland’s elective surgery wait list had ballooned to 60,038 as of the end of March, despite the public system undertaking 36,814 operations in the same period.

Nearly 80 per cent of patients were treated within clinically recommended times, which Ms Fentiman said showed the system was performing better amid increased resources.

Originally published as Long-stay patient numbers ‘highest it’s ever been’ in QLD despite $200m investment