Ramping Roundtable Action Plan

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Exhausted public hospital doctors have called for urgent action to fix ambulance ramping and bed block in Queensland’s public hospital system.

Frustrated by the ongoing lack of action from Queensland Health, a group of dedicated doctors met over several months to develop an action plan to resolve the problems plaguing the public hospital system.

AMA Queensland’s Ramping Roundtable is comprised of a diverse mix of doctors employed in Queensland public hospitals including emergency physicians, surgeons, ENT specialists, psychiatrists, obstetricians, general physicians and doctors in training.

All members are employed on the frontline across the state including Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and have a very clear view of how Queensland public hospitals are attempting to address the increasing rates of unsafe, overcrowded conditions in the middle of a pandemic.  

The Roundtable has reviewed the latest data, current strategies and policy approaches to address the increasing rates of presentations and admissions to Queensland public hospitals. 

The result is the AMA Queensland Ramping Roundtable Action Plan, a set of recommended short, medium and long-term actions for the State Government and Queensland Health to implement to all areas of the state across regional and metropolitan hospitals.   
 

AMA Queensland Ramping Roundtable Five-Point Action Plan

Three key strategies are required to improve the Queensland Health System.

  • Strong effective leadership
  • System and procedural innovation
  • Appropriate investment by the State and Federal Governments

There are five actions.

The government must:

  1. commit to ongoing investment in more beds

  2. ensure Hospital and Health Services provide fully operational acute hospitals that function seven days a week with extended hours

  3. ensure Hospital and Health Services run hospitals at less than 90% occupancy 

  4. direct Hospital and Health Services to conduct a detailed analysis of patient flow within the hospital and report against those

  5. support alternative models of access to hospital care other than through the emergency department

Read the full AMA Queensland Ramping Roundtable Action Plan.

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