The health crisis engulfing Queensland’s ambulances has worsened with hundreds of secret documents exposing our sick health system is falling apart.
Among the shocking findings:
- A patient in a wheelchair was ramped for more than 3 hours;
- Another patient waited 10.5 hours for an ambulance;
- Paramedics were forced to use their own cars with no ambulances available;
- An exhausted officer had to abandon their shift after being sent to a Code 1 job despite recording a dangerously high fatigue rating;
- Another officer was so exhausted they slept for several hours at the ambulance station at the end of their shift before returning home.
The 900+ pages of documents the State Government doesn’t want Queenslanders to see, covers the three busiest regions for ambulances including, Brisbane, Southport and Maroochydore.
The dossier was released online by the Opposition today for all Queenslanders to read for themselves.
Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli said the truth about the Queensland Health Crisis would horrify Queenslanders and should ring alarm bells for the Premier to immediately listen and act.
“The time for distraction is over,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“There is nowhere to hide and the Premier can’t keep saying she’s not across the details.
“This is further evidence of a broken system that the State Government can no longer ignore.
“Like the integrity crisis, the State Government wants to hide this from Queenslanders, but we won’t stop fighting for the truth, that’s why we’ve published the dossier online.
“Right now, Queenslanders can’t trust that an ambulance is going to arrive at their door in their hour of need. For the sake of patients and our health workers we need to do better because lives are depending on it.
“We’ve put solutions on the table including more beds, better triage, releasing real-time data and giving power back to the frontline staff to make better decisions to improve patient care.
“It’s time for the Premier and her Ministers to start listening.
“Honest Queenslanders deserve better.”
Shadow Health Minister Ros Bates said the culture of cover up must stop.
“All Queenslanders deserve a world-class health system no matter where they live,” she said.
“As a nurse and former hospital administrator, I know how stressful it can be for our dedicated frontline staff who are overworked and under-resourced.
“Our exhausted paramedics are doing an incredible job under the toughest conditions.
“It is not fair or right for them to be treated this way.
“Queensland Health was in crisis long before Covid, the fact these horror stories occurred all before the border opened at Christmas, proves the State Government is losing control of health.
“Ambulance staff deserve better.
“The Health Minister can no longer hide.
“These cases are damning and she must act now to fix the Queensland Health Crisis.”
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