Some south-east Queensland patients were left on an ambulance stretcher, waiting for an emergency department bed for almost eight hours, official figures have revealed.
Queensland Ambulance Service figures show that in June this year the longest time paramedics waited to transfer patients into a public hospital was 479 minutes – or seven hours and 59 minutes – at Logan Hospital.
That was followed by 476 minutes at Gold Coast University Hospital and 473 minutes at Redcliffe Hospital.
The health system was under pressure in June as the state grappled with the outbreak of its third Omicron wave of COVID-19, which saw 642 people hospitalised on June 30.
The state was also at its peak of this year's flu season in the middle of the month before there was a sharp decline in the spread of the virus.
The detailed breakdown of wait times was released following a question on notice from the Opposition.
"[The data] shows just how under pressure the hospital system is because in the end, ambulance ramping is just a symptom of a sick system," Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said.
Queensland Health releases quarterly data about the activity and performance of its hospitals.
The last update – which covered April to June – showed just 35 per cent of patients at Logan Hospital were loaded off an ambulance stretcher and into the emergency department within 30 minutes – the clinically recommended guideline.
At Gold Coast University Hospital, that figure was higher at 53 per cent, while across the state it was 55 per cent.
Mr Crisafulli said the government should proactively release details on the longest "patient off stretcher times" for each of its hospitals for transparency.
"The government should be releasing them of their own accord. It shouldn't be for the Opposition to have to use parliament to get these figures out," he said.
"The minister should acknowledge the severity of the problem, be up-front with Queenslanders and work on solutions to fix it.
"We are going to continue to fight for these figures to be released."
'We all know there are pressures on the health system'
Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said there were pressures on health systems across the country.
"I find it interesting the LNP stand up every day with a new figure somehow highlighting that there are pressures on the health system — we all know there are pressures on the health system," she said.
"Every state and territory minister and the Commonwealth are working together on these pressures — we are working with other health stakeholders."
Ms D'Ath said the issues were complex and there was "no quick fix".
"But we can show from the moment we came into government in 2015 we have continually invested in the health system," she said.
Longest 'patient off stretcher times'
Hospital |
Feb’22 |
March’22 |
April’22 |
May’22 |
June’22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Logan Hospital |
441 |
408 |
416 |
470 |
479 |
Gold Coast University Hospital |
474 |
463 |
416 |
447 |
476 |
Redcliffe Hospital |
393 |
462 |
438 |
462 |
473 |
Ipswich Hospital |
422 |
434 |
449 |
452 |
467 |
Mater Public Hospital – Brisbane |
354 |
471 |
479 |
466 |
465 |
