EXPLOSIVE Government documents released to the LNP under RTI, have revealed hospital beds from the Gold Coast to Atherton have been left unused during the Queensland Health Crisis, due to chronic staff shortages.
The bombshell revelations have damaged the credibility of Health Minister Shannon Fentiman who told Parliament, “there is no such thing as an unfunded bed”.
The RTI documents confirm multiple examples of “unfunded” hospital beds across the State, including:
• Maternity Wards in Atherton, Redcliffe, Caboolture and Thursday Island have maternity beds made “temporarily unavailable”.
• ICU units at the PA Hospital and GCUH have “decreased” beds due to staffing shortages.
• Paediatric hospital beds have been taken offline at Gold Coast University Hospital reduced due to staffing shortages.
• Chemotherapy chairs at the PA Hospital have been decreased after they were “non-resourced”.
Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli said Queenslanders deserved a world-class health system no matter where they lived, not a Government trying to hide their hospital failures.
“It is alarming to learn chemotherapy chairs, paediatric wards and even intensive care beds are sitting idle across the state during the Queensland Health Crisis,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“Hospital beds across our State are gathering dust instead of being used to provide the healthcare Queenslanders need.
“Shockingly, expectant mothers in regional Queensland have been forced to travel just to have their babies, while maternity wards are closed under this Government.
“An ‘unfunded’ hospital bed can’t help a Queenslander in a health emergency, this is another symptom of the chaos and crisis of this Government.”
Shadow Minister for Health Ros Bates said the explosive documents revealed the true impact of chronic under-resourcing in Queensland’s overrun hospitals.
“Just a month ago, photo-op Fentiman stood up and misled Queenslanders about the dire state of the Queensland Health Crisis,” Ms Bates said.
“She tried to spin Queenslanders a story, but she’s been caught out.”
“Now Queenslanders know hospital beds are laying vacant instead of helping patients in the middle of the worst health crisis our State has ever experienced.
“Queenslanders deserve honesty and transparency in the management of our health system, not more chaos and crisis from the Palaszczuk Government.
“The LNP has put health solutions on the table to heal the Queensland Health Crisis including more resources, better triaging, releasing data in real-time and putting doctors and nurses back in charge to improve patient care.”