Secret figures reveal full extent of emergency
How long ambulances are ramping outside hospitals and the hours lost; and
How many patients simply give up waiting and go home without being treated.
Shadow Health Minister Mark McArdle said clogged emergency wards meant 2304 out of 9873 Queenslanders needing emergency department treatment within 10 minutes were not seen on time during November 2009.
“For the month of November 2009 alone, ambulance officers lost 3711 hours because they were stuck outside hospitals ramping with patients who couldn’t get a bed inside the hospital,” he said.
“The situation at the QEII Hospital is particularly frightening, with one third of all arrivals left on a stretcher for more than 30 minutes.”
Mr Langbroek said desperately sick children were also being caught up in the deepening health crisis with more than one in four not being seen on time at the Mater Children’s Hospital.
“This report shows that 61 out of 227 children taken to the Mater Children’s Hospital aren’t assessed within the required 10 minutes,” he said.
“Children are among the most vulnerable in our community and it is simply unacceptable that so many seriously ill children are not being seen as quickly as they should.”
Mr McArdle said the documents obtained by the LNP also showed that in November alone, 5500 Queenslanders gave up waiting in emergency departments and went home without treatment.
“I am very concerned that about one in five of the patients who gave up waiting were triage category three patents – patients assessed as urgent and requiring treatment within 30 minutes,” he said.
“This is dangerous, with many of these people facing complications down the track because of their failure to receive treatment.”
Mr Langbroek said the figures showed the health crisis was far from over in Queensland and the situation in many hospitals was getting worse.
“Bligh and Labor need to listen to the real doctors, not just their spin doctors, and start cutting wasteful health spending to cut waiting times for sick patients,” he said.
“These figures highlight just how badly Bligh and Labor have failed Queenslanders through their lack of planning and investment in health infrastructure, and their focus on politics not patients.”