Some patients had to wait for more than seven-and-a-half hours in ambulances and hallways at Sunshine Coast hospitals last year.
Recent figures released by Queensland Health have revealed the extent of ramping at Sunshine Coast University Hospital and Nambour Hospital in late 2022.
But health officials say all of the priority cases this year have been seen in the recommended timeframe and the median wait time for patients this year has been only 14 minutes, amid an influx of people seeking care.
The State Opposition on Tuesday issued a press release with the longest times that some patients had to wait at SCUH and Nambour from August to December.
One person waited at SCUH for 7hr 36min while another waited 7hr 23min at Nambour.
At least five people waited 5hr 30min or more at SCUH in December.
Shadow Health Minister Ros Bates slammed the times as unacceptable.
“As a nurse and former hospital administrator, I know how stressful it is for patients who must wait seven hours at the end of a ramp for a hospital bed,” she said.
“Paramedics didn’t sign up for this vocation to spend an entire shift ramped while other calls go unanswered by Queenslanders in their hour of need.
“The Opposition has put solutions on the table including better resources, improving triaging, real-time data monitoring and giving power back to local doctors and nurses.
“Patient care, not self-promotion, must be the top priority.”
The strain on services appears to have been stretched even further this year.
A Sunshine Coast Health spokesperson said there had been an increase in the number of patients at local hospitals in 2023.
“More than 53,000 patients presented to our Sunshine Coast Health emergency departments in the most recent reporting quarter (January to March),” the spokesperson said.
“There were 16 per cent more presentations to our emergency departments from January to March 2023 compared to 2022.”
But the spokesperson said the most pressing cases were dealt with in a relatively timely manner.
“Patients arrive at our emergency departments in different ways, and all patients are triaged depending on how serious their condition is,” they said.
“Sometimes patients coming into our hospitals via ambulances may not all be clinically assessed as category one patients.
“Importantly, in the most recent reporting, all category one – or our sickest patients – were seen within clinically recommended timeframes.”
And most patients did not have to wait for hours.
“The median wait time across all five categories at Nambour Hospital was only 14 minutes and the median wait time across all five categories at Sunshine Coast University Hospital was only 14 minutes,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the Sunshine Coast Health and Hospital Service was working towards further improving its services.
“We are supporting flow through our emergency departments with a number of initiatives including interim care beds and optimisation of Hospital in the Home,” they said.
“We would like to acknowledge our health service teams for their dedication each and every day in our increasingly busy Sunshine Coast Health hospitals.”
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