Queensland Hospital’s in Crisis and there is Increasing Demand for State Government Reforms

Queensland's Health Minister has admitted that the state's hospital system is struggling to meet demand, and fears that the upcoming flu season will exasperate the situation. 

In recent weeks, the state's healthcare system has come under fire from the opposition and doctors for challenges including ambulance ramping and hospital wait times. This is a massive crisis that has been long overdue and is becoming increasingly dangerous for workers and patients. 

When a patient is admitted to a hospital from the emergency department and is unable to leave due to a lack of inpatient hospital beds, this is referred to as an access block. More resources and staffing are desperately needed in Queensland hospitals. Because of the pandemic and flaws in the aged care system, they have no control over this catastrophe. Since a  large proportion of citizens are unable to access private specialists, GPs, an NDIS package, or any other type of aged care support, they’ve had to turn to the public health system. 

How are public hospitals supposed to accommodate and treat patients with limited resources when 462 patients have COVID, 1600 staff are isolated due to COVID, and 520 long-stay patients who don't require medical care but need an NDIS or an aged care package?

Flu Cases Increasing Every Day 

The flu season has arrived and is becoming more prevalent as the weather cools, with a surge already occurring in recent weeks. It is critical that everyone schedules flu vaccine appointments in order to avoid adding to the demand on emergency departments. 

COVID-19 has contributed to the hospital crisis, however, the decline has been present a decade before the global pandemic, and healthcare professionals are demanding assistance and a solution. 

The hospital overcrowding is caused by chronic underfunding, not by the pandemic or doctors. For the past 40 years, only 9% of the gross domestic product has been spent on health, and everyone is dissatisfied with both parties' health policies, especially since they blame doctors rather than taking accountability. 

A Demand for more Investments in Healthcare

To stop these hospital disasters and maintain GPs afloat, public healthcare requires between $20 billion and $30 billion.  Despite the fact that the state has delivered "consecutive record health budgets," there is still a call for more federal funding to improve hospital performance. There is a demand for increased Commonwealth health funding for aged care, the NDIS, private health insurance, and more support for GPs. As hospitals struggle to stay functioning it is time for the government to take control and devise a solution before the public health care systems fail.