Qld hospitals playing 'musical bypass'
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Dr Andrew-Starkey says she has referred information about patients who died because they could not get a hospital bed to the Qld Health Dept. (ABC TV)
A senior Queensland doctor says she has passed onto the State Government her evidence supporting claims that emergency patients have died because of a shortage of public hospital beds.
The Queensland head of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, Dr Sylvia Andrew-Starkey, says major public hospitals in the state's south-east are playing "musical bypass".
Dr Andrew-Starkey says she has referred information to Queensland Health about patients who died because they could not get a hospital bed.
"We're not after pointing fingers at any particular people - what we actually just want is change," she said.
Elective surgery has been cancelled at two regional Queensland hospitals this week as emergency departments struggle to cope with an influx of patients.
Dr Andrew-Starkey says over the past fortnight, emergency wards at the Royal Brisbane, Princess Alexandra and Gold Coast hospitals have been turning away patients more frequently than normal.
She says Queensland hospitals are not coping with demand.
"We've been playing musical bypass for the last two weeks," she said.
"The major teaching hospitals have been on bypass three, four, fives times a week, which is just really unusual and we can't serve the public.
"It's very frustrating for staff."
Queensland Health Minister Stephen Robertson has said he will refer the matter to the Health Quality and Complaints Commission (HQCC) if there is proof.
Late yesterday Mr Robertson again said there are multiple problems that needed to be dealt with.
"People keep saying I'm blaming this and I'm blaming that," he said.
"What I'm trying to do is explain the range of pressures that we're under."
Mr Robertson says it is time for a constructive discussion about the pressures on public hospitals.
"There are multiple pressure points and we've got to deal with each of them, but first of all we've actually got to have an open and honest discussion about the pressure points in our hospital system," he said.
Dr Andrew-Starkey says over the past fortnight major public hospitals in the south-east have been on bypass up to five times a week.
Future problems
Queensland's rural doctors are warning the state of the health system will only get worse because of rapid growth and the state's ageing population.
Rural Doctors Association of Queensland (RDAQ) president Jim Finn says hospitals need to run at 80 per cent capacity, not 100 per cent.
"When you do get a growth, a temporary blimp in numbers going up, the hospitals cannot cope any more and you get this 'bed block' scenario where then emergency department can't cope because they don't have the physical space to store the patients who have to be in hospital," he said.
"They need extra physical space to examine other patients, to determine if they're right to go home or they need to be in hospital."
Doctors at Townsville Hospital in north Queensland believe the stress caused by a continuing overload of patients will cause future staff shortages.
The hospital has been forced to open wards in conference rooms and cancel elective surgery.
Senior doctors believe the current code yellow or 'internal disaster status' at the Townsville Hospital is likely to be indefinite.
Emergency consultant Dr Karl O'Kane says without more beds it is hard see any short term solutions.
"It's been getting worse every year," he said.
"The staff can only do so much and cope with so much".
RDAQ president Dr Jim Finn says the State Government must fast-track plans for an extra 100 beds for the Townsville Hospital.
"There is a whole spectre of patients waiting for 24 hours to be admitted in Jason recliners [chairs] and being forced to go into wards, in X-ray rooms and waiting rooms - shows that Townsville Hospital just can't cope any more," Dr Finn said.
Dr O'Kane says the next problem will be a lack of trained staff.
"I think with this sort of work overload and the frustrations of the staff over the last number of years is it inevitable that people will seek a more sustainable work career for their future years," he said.
Dr Lynden Roberts, the director of internal medicine at Townsville Hospital, says he has two medical teams working at nearly double capacity and the staff cannot keep it going long term.
"It's just sort of running along as sort of an extended problem here and I think that makes people quite frustrated and worn out," he said.
Poor planning
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) says the current crisis facing some hospitals is due to poor State Government planning.
AMA Queensland president, Dr Chris Davis, says he is seeking a meeting with the State Government to discuss the issue.
"We're actually seeing things getting worse very year," he said.
"That tells us there has not been adequate planning that the full population influx into Queensland has not been properly calculated. and the impact of an ageing population is not properly understood."
On the Gold Coast, doctors says some patients have had their elective surgery postponed up to eight times at the Southport Hospital.
Gold Coast Australian Medical Association (AMA) president Dr Philip Morris says the situation is "shameful".
"We get anecdotal reports of people who have been set up to have elective surgery and then having it cancelled up to six to eight times," he said.
"That's an absolute tragedy. I mean it's an indictment on the planning of health services in Queensland."
Winter illnesses
In the state's south-east, Toowoomba hospital is operating at capacity and has been forced to open additional beds in its wards.
Some elective surgery cases at Toowoomba Hospital have been cancelled to meet demand in its emergency department.
Local health service district manager Michelle McKay says the hospital has had a very busy few days treating patients with winter illnesses.
Ms McKay says the hospital is operating at capacity after being forced to open extra wards.
"The balance between elective demand and emergency demand is something we and the staff of the hospital spend a considerable energy ensuring that we get the balances close to right as we can, so in a time like this where the emergency demand increases, then we look to how we can perhaps look to some of our elective patients," he said.
Ms McKay says they have opened more beds than they normally would and additional beds are available if needed.
"The design of the Toowoomba hospital is such that we have a number of areas that we can open - a surge capacity if you like," she said.
"We're fortunate to be able to do that and flex up the number of beds that we are able to open when demand is as it is now."
Increased demand
Meanwhile, Queensland Health says more beds have been opened at Hervey Bay and Maryborough Hospitals in the state's south-east to cope with increased demand.
The Department says staff have worked to open more beds to address the situation.
Hervey Bay Hospital has been on capacity alert twice this week, while Bundaberg Hospital has reached the second phase of its four phase bed capacity management plan an average of twice a week this month.
Maryborough Hospital has not been on capacity alert at all.
Five elective surgery cases have been postponed in Bundaberg because beds were not available, four of those cases have now been treated and one has been rescheduled for next month.
Queensland Health says while no surgeries have been cancelled at Hervey Bay or Maryborough, the situation is being reviewed daily.
