Harrowing stories from Chinchilla locals will be taken to the floor of State Parliament, after the LNP hosted the first Queensland Health Crisis Town Hall for 2022 today.
Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli joined Shadow Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Ros Bates to hear from locals.
Ms Bates said the feedback from Chinchilla residents will help force change to the Queensland Health system.
“We’ve heard stories of babies being born on the side of the Warrego Highway, the number of doctors at Chinchilla Hospital has gone from four to two since 2005 and our hard-working frontline staff are under-resourced,” Ms Bates said.
“Queensland Hospitals were under severe strain before Covid-19 and Chinchilla Hospital was no different.
“Labor is losing control of the health system.
“The LNP was able to reduce ambulance ramping to 15% by 2015, but now under Labor it’s nearly hit 60% in some areas.”
The LNP has put solutions on the table for the State Government to immediately adopt including:
1) Data Transparency: Real time data on available beds needs to be accessible to patients and health professionals to help them make the best decision for their situation.
2) Triaging Improvements: Providing better resourcing for triaging in emergency departments to ensure the service is fit for purpose.
3) Proper Resourcing: Investing in more beds instead of fudging the figures by counting chairs in the hospital bed tally.
4) Empowering Frontline Staff: Allowing front line clinicians the power to effectively run their hospitals, using local expertise and decision making.
Ms Bates thanked the locals from Chinchilla who attended today’s town hall.
“The LNP won’t stop fighting for better healthcare in regional Queensland,” Ms Bates said.
“This third term State Government has stopped listening, but we won’t.”
The next Queensland Health Crisis Town Hall will be held in Biloela tomorrow.