- 90 patients have been stranded in Wide Bay hospitals, urgently waiting for tailored care placements to be delivered by the Australian Government.
- Australian Government urged to address funding shortfalls keeping patients in hospitals instead of in appropriate care.
- Federal Government's stranded patients leaving Wide Bay hospitals under pressure and delaying access to specialist health services when Queenslanders need them.
The Queensland Government has called on the Australian Government to urgently meet its funding responsibilities to ease the burden on the health system caused by a shortage of aged care beds and National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) assistance in the Wide Bay region.
Through no fault of their own, 90 stranded patients are occupying beds in the Wide Bay HHS facilities, including 11 younger and 79 older patients, who have been medically cleared for discharge but remain in hospital.
A funding shortfall from the Australian Government has left the patients without suitable care options and languishing in hospital beds.
The Queensland Government is doing everything it can to ensure patients receive the healthcare they need and deserve, however funding for the NDIS and aged care is primarily the responsibility of the Australian Government.
These older patients cost the health system $1.91 million every day - costs that should rightly be met by the Commonwealth, and a further 290 younger NDIS patients are also awaiting discharge, adding $660,000 per day.
The Wide Bay HHS provides care to more than 225,000 people in the Bundaberg, Fraser Coast, North Burnett and Discovery Coast Region, making every hospital bed valuable.
Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Tim Nicholls said the Crisafulli Government was doing its part to strengthen Queensland's health system for the future.
"We are committed to improving access to healthcare across Queensland, reducing ambulance ramping, and increasing life-changing elective surgeries," Mr Nicholls said.
"As part of our Hospital Rescue Plan, we are delivering more than 2,600 new hospital beds across three new and 10 expanded hospitals, as well as new and upgraded health facilities across Queensland.
"While we are seeing the elective surgery wait list decrease and important progress on our plan, there is much more to be done to restore health services when you need them, and we remain committed to delivering the fresh start we promised."
A 67-year-old Fraser Coast man has spent 214 days between Maryborough, Hervey Bay and Brisbane Hospitals waiting for a short-term aged care bed while modifications are made to his home to meet his new care needs.
"I'm in a high-set Queenslander so I need to put in a lift, and the bathroom needs some repairs. Some of it will be under a home care package, but they're saying it will take 14 weeks to install the lift," the man said.
"I've been looking for a respite place so I've got somewhere to stay until the modifications are done and I can go back home. I rang, I reckon 40 places between Maryborough and Hervey Bay and no one is interested in short term.
"Because they've discharged me from rehab, I'm not doing much of my rehab stuff like speech therapy anymore."
