Hospitals need more resources, not cuts

Transcript: AMA Queensland President, Dr Maria Boulton, Today Show, Monday 5 December 2022

Subject: Hospital funding

HOST:   A leaked email has revealed a major Queensland hospital is being forced to cut millions of dollars in the middle of a health crisis. For more, let's bring in AMA Queensland President Dr Maria Boulton in Brisbane. Maria, a $9 million cut, that's the equivalent of operating two wards.

DR MARIA BOULTON:   Good morning, Tracy. And this is really interesting because what we're seeing on the ground is the fact that staff, so healthcare workers, nurses and doctors, are overworked. There aren’t enough beds. Ambulances are being ramped. The waiting list to have an elective surgery or an outpatient appointment is just growing by the minute.

So what we asked is actually for more funding, we wanted the federal government to increase our funding by 5 per cent, to bring funding to 50-50 between the state and the federal government. Because we're hearing from those healthcare workers that it is getting almost impossible to provide the level of care that their patients need at this time with the current funding arrangement.

HOST:   It is tough out there for nurses and health staff, Maria. But look, there was an annual budget of $103 million rise. How did it get this bad?

DR MARIA BOULTON: Yeah, the health of the population is deteriorating. We're seeing a lot more presentations of category one patients. So for example, people with chest pains and strokes. So there are increased presentations to hospitals from people who actually need a hospital bed. And you're right, every taxpayer dollar needs to be spent in the best possible way to ensure that patients are cared for. But the reality on the ground, and I've seen this firsthand and we see it every day, is that more resources are needed. We know that there are staff shortages across all areas of healthcare, and we know that healthcare workers are urgently asking for more staff so that they can continue to do the wonderful job that they do.

HOST:   This is the issue though, cutting down maternity leave as well as nursing levels. That email claims, despite these cost-saving solutions, they still won't meet the demand. But you are saying there needs to be more staff.

DR MARIA BOULTON:   Yeah, absolutely. And I was hearing from a nurse the other day who works at a large hospital in Southeast Queensland and, basically, they are really struggling. They are looking after more patients than they should be looking after. They work in a ward where they open up beds without having enough staff to look after those patients. And the same is happening in emergency. If you go into an emergency department in a smaller hospital in Southeast Queensland, for example, a doctor will start a shift, the beds will be full and half of those people will be waiting for a hospital bed. And then it's also really difficult for that smaller hospital to transfer patients to the larger hospital where those patients need to access surgery and life-saving care. And the situation is dire. And this is really interesting, what we need is more resources and a long-term solution for the workforce crisis rather than reduce spending.

HOST:   Is there a concern that this is the beginning of multiple budget slashes?

DR MARIA BOULTON: Yes, and we have had some reports of this. We know that the COVID funding for hospitals is being cut down at a time that it sounds crazy considering that we're going through another COVID wave, at a time when we know that hospitals, they're overstretched and hospital workers are working so hard. We know that our junior doctors are working harder than ever and that they're missing out on really good educational opportunities that they should be getting because they are the specialists that are going to be looking after us in the future.

HOST: It is a dire situation. Maria Boulton, thank you.