News
28 January, 2025
The systemic health failures
The independent Queensland Audit Office (QAO) has released a report - Health 2024 - on Queensland Health’s performance in 2023-24, which has laid bare failures in financial performance and sustainability, asset management, and managing the demand for health services.
Some of the discoveries from 2023-24 include:
• 157,602 hours of ambulance lost time.
• 3,513 patients in need of emergency care presented to Satellite Hospitals.
• 37 percent of health buildings will require replacement within the next 10 years.
• Long waits for specialist outpatient care have risen by 29 percent in the past 9 years.
The report confirms lives were increasingly being put at risk with Queensland Health failing to meet its statewide ramping targets for the last nine years.
Outpatient appointments also soared, with the report uncovering that the number of long waits last year was 29 percent higher than the same time in 2015. This means more than 100,000 Queenslanders were left waiting longer than clinically recommended for critical services like cardiology, ophthalmology, paediatric medicine, and general surgery.
Confusion continues to reign when it comes to satellite hospitals, with more than 3,500 patients with immediately or imminently life-threatening conditions presenting at satellite hospitals last year. This includes patients in need of emergency care for major heart attacks, anaphylaxis, massive trauma injuries, seizures, and strokes.
The Auditor General’s report also starkly highlights that there is a massive cliff approaching when it comes to health facilities, with more than one-third of buildings needing to be replaced within the next 10 years.
