By Matthew Pearce
The LNP says ambulance ramping has soared at Rockhampton Hospital, with an increase of 10 per cent over the previous quarter.
Visiting Rockhampton last week, Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said the situation was unacceptable.
“We have some world-renowned specialists who are being let down by a tired, third-term Palaszczuk Labor Government that no longer listens to Queenslanders,” he said.
“Staff didn’t sign up for this vocation to spend a shift at the end of a ramp while other calls from Queenslanders go unanswered in their hour of need.”
Mr Crisafulli said Queensland Health data showed ramping rates were at 48 per cent at Rockhampton Hospital in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the fourth quarter’s ramping rate of 38 per cent.
Ramping rates were 16 per cent in Gladstone in the first quarter of 2023, the same as the fourth quarter of 2022.
Overall in Queensland, ramping rates were at 43 per cent in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of two per cent on the fourth quarter of 2022.
Both Gladstone and Rockhampton saw a yearly increase of three per cent, compared to an increase of one per cent in Queensland.
Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service chief executive Dr Emma McCahon said 36,972 patients had visited emergency departments in CQ from January to March.
This includes 13,429 people in Rockhampton and 9092 in Gladstone.
“I thank the dedicated CQ Health teams for providing great care to Central Queenslanders every day,” she said.
Dr McCahon said patients were given a triage category according to their level of clinical need, with Category 1 the sickest or most seriously injured.
“All Category 1 patients were seen within two minutes of arriving at hospital, and the average wait time across all five categories in the March quarter was just 16 minutes,” she said.
“As with any busy Emergency Department, at times there are surges of ambulances arriving, which does cause delays.
“Our staff aim to get patients off ambulance stretchers as quickly as possible and patients are closely monitored while they await an ED cubical.”
Despite high levels of demand, Dr McCahon said 71 per cent of patients in all Central Queensland EDs were seen within clinically recommended times in the March quarter.
“Our teams are always working on new ways to help streamline the care of patients,” she said.
“This includes developing models of care that are designed to keep people out of hospital wherever possible, including virtual care, Hospital in the Home, and the Mental Health co-responder program with Queensland Ambulance Service that supports people in mental health crisis in their own homes.
“We also have a Respiratory Rapid Access Service to care for patients with chronic respiratory conditions without coming to ED.”
Mr Crisafulli said the LNP wanted to “heal the health system”, with solutions including better resources, better triaging, sharing data in real time and putting local doctors and nurses back in charge.