Transcript - Today Show - flu cases and pressure on hospitals
Only one in three Queenslanders has had their flu jab, despite the vaccination being safe, effective and free, AMA Queensland President Dr Maria Boulton has told the Today Show.
Transcript: AMA Queensland President Dr Maria Boulton, Today with Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo, Thursday 17 August 2023
Subject: Influenza rates and pressure on hospitals
KARL STEFANOVIC: Reports today that surging flu cases are pushing Queensland hospitals to the brink with staff at Gladstone Hospital now forced to send patients into the maternity ward to cope with the lack of beds. As it turns out, that may not have been the case. Let's bring in Dr Maria Boulton, the President of the Australian Medical Association of Queensland. Doctor, good morning to you.
Look, that was the story on the front page of The Courier-Mail. We did receive word from Gladstone Hospital, they have just got back to us in the last couple of minutes saying that wasn't the case. However, it still produces an element of anxiety, doesn't it, when you've got so many flu cases in hospital at the moment?
DR MARIA BOULTON: Without a doubt, we're having a very significant flu season this year and we're seeing many people end up in hospital. This is people all ages from babies through to elderly people, and we've seen also the loss of life, which is terrible. The sad thing is that only about 30 per cent of Queenslanders have had a flu vaccine. We know that it's really, effective, so we're still far behind from where we need to be.
Hospitals have these surges from time to time. We know that they're suffering from a significant one at the moment because of all these viruses circulating at the moment. But we also know that they have really good infectious diseases protocols to ensure no other patient becomes infected, and also to protect their staff.
KARL STEFANOVIC: Vaccines are a tough sell, aren't they?
DR MARIA BOULTON: Yeah, I think everyone's a little bit tired about vaccines. But we're back into it. We don't want to see kids in hospital. We don't want to see grandma and grandpa end up in hospital. And it is a severe season and Influenza B is really doing a number on us. That's why it's really important for people to remember that the flu vaccines have been around for a long, time, they're very safe and it's not too late to get vaccinated.
KARL STEFANOVIC: You would know really closely how much Queensland hospitals are under the pump. Hospitals around Australia at the moment, how pushed are they to their limits?
DR MARIA BOULTON: They're very pushed and we hear this from staff day in and day out. I was talking to someone from a hospital recently and they were saying that they're looking after many patients not in emergency beds, but in the corridor or in ambulances or being ramped. So everyone's under the pump. This is not new. This happened before COVID, but certainly COVID didn't help. That's why it's really important moving forward that the federal government and the state governments realise that what they're doing is not enough. We need more staff, we need more funding, we need more resources to ensure that people get the care that they deserve.
KARL STEFANOVIC: Good on you Maria, great call.
