Satellite hospital name to stay but education on the way

Transcript: Queensland Health Minister Shannon Fentiman, ABC Brisbane, Breakfast with Craig Zonca and Loretta Ryan, Tuesday 13 August 2024

Subjects: Satellite hospitals; virtual emergency care; gambling ads

CRAIG ZONCA: Should satellite hospitals in Queensland be renamed? There's seven of them here around the south-east. Nick Yim, the President of the Australian Medical Association Queensland, says yes.

DR NICK YIM: We are seeing an increased number of unwell patients presenting to satellite hospitals, essentially a location that doesn’t have the capabilities to treat them. So what that means is that individual patient is delaying their treatment. So what that means is sometimes they need to be transferred to another emergency department or another tertiary hospital, and that delays treatment that utilises resourcing such as ambulances to transport them. So what we need to do is have a new education campaign because it is quite confusing. As you've mentioned, we've got urgent care clinics, in October we'll have nurse led clinics, and now we have these satellite hospitals. Alternatively, we might need to consider changing that name, satellite hospitals, to something else that isn't representative of a hospital.

CRAIG ZONCA: Nick Yim from the Australian Medical Association, Queensland.

LORETTA RYAN: We thought we'd put this to Shannon Fentiman, Queensland's Health Minister, who has dropped in to the studio this morning. Do satellite hospitals need a name change?

MINISTER SHANNON FENTIMAN: Well, look I have to say I agree in part with Nick and I met with Nick yesterday and we had a good chat about really the education campaign that needs to come because we do have a lot more services than we had two years ago. Two years ago. it was really, you see your GP or you go to the ED. Now we have the federal government's Medicare urgent care clinics, we have our minor injury and illness clinics at our satellite hospitals. Our pharmacists are doing more and we’ll soon be opening community, free nurse clinics. So I agree, and we will absolutely work with the AMA and the community to make sure Queenslanders do understand the options they have available to them. But I do want to be really clear. We've now seen 110,000 Queenslanders through our minor injury and illness clinics at our satellite hospitals. So that's the part of the satellite hospital that's open 8am to 10pm every day. Only 0.06 per cent of those patients, so 1 in 1,000, are what we call a category one or needing really life-saving care.

CRAIG ZONCA: And they get transferred to an ED?

MINISTER SHANNON FENTIMAN: And they get stabilised and they get great care, and then they're transferred to an ED. So that's about, Craig, two patients a week. We have, from the QAS, about 150 patients a week that get transferred from GP clinics to ED. So sometimes Queenslanders actually don't know how sick they are. They may not know they're experiencing a minor heart attack. We've had a couple of people present at our satellite hospitals who were actually having a stroke and they didn't realise, but they were able to get life-saving care, get their scans done. And when it comes to stroke, you know, seconds are everything when it comes to treatment. And then they were safely transported.

LORETTA RYAN: Yeah. Well in that case then, if people are not sure, say they're getting heart pain or they're just not sure what's going on, do they go straight to the ED?

MINISTER SHANNON FENTIMAN: Look, if you have chest pain, my advice is call an ambulance and go to the emergency department. But if you decide that you're not sure how unwell you are and you go to a satellite hospital, as I said, for the most part, I think Queenslanders are pretty clever. You know, we have seen over 110,000 Queenslanders and most of them are getting great care and should be at those satellite hospitals because that's taking pressure off our very busy EDs. So if you're not sure, of course call an ambulance. But for a minor injury or illness - and I think the name says it all, guys – like, the satellite hospital offers specialist hospital services, but the part we're really talking about, where people can walk in and get same-day care, is the minor injury and illness clinic.

CRAIG ZONCA: Well why not call it a clinic then, Minister? You're using this satellite hospital, which is more a marketing phrase than anything else. It's not open 24/7, you can't stay there overnight. Isn't it just a marketing term that you and your government have chosen to use?

MINISTER SHANNON FENTIMAN: So, Craig, there are about 50 private day hospitals in Queensland. They provide the same services that our satellite hospitals are providing. No-one's calling for them to be renamed because for the most part, you have an appointment and you go and see a specialist. So I want to be really clear with people. The minor injury and illness clinic is the wonderful part of the satellite hospital where you can walk in and get same-day care. So if your kids have fallen off the skateboard or they've injured themselves at school sport on a weekend or after hours, they have x rays, you get great care. They're run by doctors and nurses, nurse practitioners as well. You will get fantastic care. The rest of the satellite hospital, you can get cancer treatment, you can get dialysis, you can get those specialist services that you get at a hospital. But that's by appointment. So people aren't turning up asking for cancer treatment. People are turning up because their kids have an earache and they can't get in to see their GP that day, and it is urgent, but it's not an emergency.

CRAIG ZONCA: Yeah, certainly acknowledging the outpatient services that are there at these, as you say, satellite hospitals. So just to be really clear, on 612 ABC Brisbane this morning, no rebrand is on the cards?

MINISTER SHANNON FENTIMAN: Honestly, I think at this point in time - and I know the LNP, their one health policy, Craig, they haven't put anything on the table when it comes to health, their one health policy is to rename satellite hospitals That would cost an enormous amount of money, and I think it would cause more confusion at this point. So I agree with Nick Yim that we do need to work together to put in an education campaign about all the new services that are coming online. We've started that and we'll continue that. But for the most part, you know, 110,000 Queenslanders, they're getting it right. And that is taking a huge pressure off our busy emergency departments. We've seen a reduction in less urgent presentations to our busy EDS, and that's what we hoped that these minor injury and illness clinics at our satellite hospitals would do.

LORETTA RYAN: Minister Shannon Fentiman, Queensland Minister for Health, in the studio this morning. Last month, you announced the virtual emergency care service. Is that service progressing?

MINISTER SHANNON FENTIMAN: Absolutely. So again, this is another way for Queenslanders to not have to go into our busy hospitals. So we've launched the virtual emergency care service. It's based at Metro North but it's now available statewide. So you can call 13HEALTH or you can hop online and fill in a questionnaire and, if it's appropriate, they'll immediately connect you with a wonderful doctor and you can get a great telehealth appointment. I think one of the things we've learned through COVID is we can use telehealth or video appointments to get people great care without them having to get the kids in the car, go to the hospital. You know, you can get that great treatment from home. So that's progressing really well as well.

CRAIG ZONCA: Queensland Health Minister Shannon Fentiman with you. We're going to be turning to a discussion about gambling ads in the next 10 minutes or so, Minister. And the federal government has been under a bit of pressure around a blanket ban on gambling advertising. Some might not say it's a health issue, but many others would argue that it is. Do you think there should be a blanket ban on gambling advertising on our TVs?

MINISTER SHANNON FENTIMAN: I certainly think there should be serious restrictions. When I was Attorney-General and involved in these discussions, I would hear from Queenslanders regularly. You cannot watch a game of sport in this country without being inundated with gambling ads, online gambling apps. And I just think it sets a terrible example for the next generation that we have to be thinking about gambling on sport whilst watching it. So I am certainly in favour of making sure we are restricting when and where gambling ads run. But really, it's now a matter for the federal government to determine if that's a blanket ban or there are restrictions.

CRAIG ZONCA: So you say restrictions, would you support a blanket ban?

MINISTER SHANNON FENTIMAN: I personally would absolutely support a blanket ban, but I understand that that's complex. As I said, I haven't been in the portfolio for a few years but certainly I would like to see, you know, sport being broadcast without gambling ads involved because, you know, when I watch sport with my kids, I want us to be enjoying the game, not necessarily thinking about the odds.

CRAIG ZONCA: I appreciate your time this morning, Minister. Thanks so much.