The Queensland health debacle continues

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Hospital waiting lists blow-out hits 544 per cent

Queenslanders are being forced to wait longer for urgent surgery in the state's troubled public hospital system, which is performing fewer operations than it did a year ago, according to elective surgery waiting-list figures released yesterday. In spite of more than $170 million promised by the Beattie Government in the past three years to reduce waiting times for elective surgery, yesterday's waiting list report indicates the Government has failed to make any inroads into waiting times.

The number of people waiting more than 30 days for urgent category one operations increased by a massive 544 per cent during the last three months of last year compared with the same period 12 months before. Category one operations include most cancer and heart procedures which can lead to death if not performed. In the same period the number of people waiting more than 90 days for semi-urgent category two operations increased by 281 per cent. Patients in category two are likely to have severe pain, severe fractures, blocked arteries, some tumours, and some types of bowel surgery.

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Baby dies 'waiting for ambulance'


Queensland health authorities have launched an investigation after a 14-month-old girl died while waiting for an ambulance. The girl's grandmother, who did not want to be named, said today the baby died yesterday afternoon after waiting to be transferred by ambulance from Gympie Hospital in south-east Queensland to Nambour Hospital in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. "She had to wait over three hours for an ambulance," the grandmother said. "As she was getting into the ambulance, my granddaughter started frothing at the mouth and my daughter asked a registered nurse what's wrong." The mother was told to get into the ambulance with her daughter. "Within two to three minutes, my granddaughter was dead in my daughter's arms," the grandmother said.

Emergency Services Minister Pat Purcell said the death of the girl was a tragedy but the ambulance had not taken three hours to arrive. "The Gympie Hospital requested an ambulance transfer within two hours to another hospital and the ambulance crew arrived in one hour and 25 minutes," Mr Purcell said. He could not comment further until the matter had been fully investigated. A spokesman for Queensland Health Minister Stephen Robertson said the matter had been referred to the coroner.

Opposition emergency services spokesman Ted Malone called for an open inquiry into the response time of the ambulance. "Sadly, we are hearing of long delays for ambulances every day," Mr Malone said. "In this case, the minister may be saying that the ambulance got there within a reasonable time, but long delays for ambulances are occurring all too often."

Last week, a pregnant 15-year-old Mareeba girl with life-threatening complications was left waiting two-and-half hours for an ambulance to take her from Mareeba Hospital in north Queensland to Cairns, about 60km away. The baby died at Cairns Hospital the following morning. A preliminary report by the Queensland Ambulance Service into that incident blamed "human error" but recognised that while mistakes had been made, it appeared to be a one-off occurrence and not a systemic issue.

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