An alleged victim of a sexual assault was transported by Queensland police to a hospital 90 minutes away as staff shortages meant she was unable to be examined at her local hospital, a state Labor MP has claimed.
Tom Smith, the MP for Bundaberg, said he was concerned about the pressures on the state’s health system after speaking to the alleged victim.
He said the woman had to wait for the police to drive her to another hospital to be examined.
“The length of time having to wait in a hospital, then potentially having to be in the back of a police car … can obviously be a very harrowing and traumatic experience,” Smith said.
“They are the victims. They’re not criminals. We shouldn’t have to be relying on that sort of transport for them.”
Smith said he believed it could be difficult to take a health worker off a hospital’s emergency ward, because the examinations can take up to two hours.
Sharon Stokell, the general manager of operations at Cairns Sexual Assault Network, said she had heard cases of victims waiting eight hours to see a forensically trained clinician.
She said it was not uncommon for victims to be told to remain in the same clothing, or that they could not shower or go to the bathroom, while waiting for an examination.
“It is not just Cairns or far north Queensland. I have heard stories of many other things that have occurred in places you would not expect it – places like Toowoomba,” she told a parliamentary inquiry last month.
“They are fairly large regional areas. We are not talking about Julia Creek or Augathella.”
Smith put forward a motion at last weekend’s Queensland Labor conference to address shortages in the healthcare system.
The successful motion said Queensland Labor was committed “to ensuring that necessary training and resources are provided” to medical professionals, so victims can access examinations without having to leave regional health centres.
Smith said these examinations were crucial to ensure victims had an avenue for justice in the court system.
“I wouldn’t want that to be a reason why the victim doesn’t come forward for examination for a legal process to begin because the trauma is overwhelming them,” he said.
“This isn’t about that we haven’t done enough. This is about ensuring that we go further to provide the equipment required but also the staffing required as well.
“We need to make sure that we are responsive at the moment that a victim comes into the hospital.”
Stokell told Guardian Australia that Queensland needed more health workers to be trained in providing trauma-informed care and examinations.
The state’s health minister, Shannon Fentiman, said the government was committed to ensuring every victim could access “timely and high-quality” forensic examinations, regardless of their location.
She said new forensic medical examination kits would be rolled out to all hospitals for training purposes.
“Training provided to staff will also emphasise the importance of trauma-informed and culturally sensitive care,” Fentiman said.
Criticisms of the state’s hospital system have intensified this week, with a woman’s harrowing experience – which has sparked an internal health review – leading to the premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, divulging the trauma she suffered after experiencing a miscarriage.
Nikkole Southwell, who was 12 weeks pregnant when she miscarried in April, this week claimed paramedics placed the foetus into a biohazard bag on the way to Ipswich hospital.
The Fernvale woman told the Courier Mail she had to sit in the hospital waiting room holding the bag with sheets around her waist.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. International helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org
