Hospitals in crisis

Spending eight hours in the ED waiting room at Wyong Hospital over the Christmas weekend allowed me to observe the suffering of so many people who really needed immediate medical treatment but were being penalised by the Perrottet Government’s failure fix our health system.

20 January 2023

ALAN HAYES

 

ON THE eve of the NSW State Election, and after 12 years in Government, Dominic Perrottet has decided to wash his hands of any responsibility for the crisis facing the New South Wales healthcare system and pass the buck.

 

There was no doubt at Wyong Hospital that our nurses and doctors were being expected to continually go above and beyond normal human capabilities to help those people - there can be no argument that our hospitals are understaffed and our nurses and doctors are overworked. Yet Dominic Perrottet repeatedly says that everything is fine but everyone knows that's not the case.

 

Reports this month in the media that the Premier is calling on the federal government to implement reforms and provide additional funding indicate the Liberal National Government have no plan to reform and fix the ailing healthcare in New South Wales.

 

And the people of NSW are right to ask - who will be the next health minister to fix this mess with the retirement of Brad Hazzard?

 

Of course, conversations between Federal and State Governments around funding arrangements are important, but that is not an excuse to pull the wool over the eyes of NSW voters that this is a government that has neglected our health system for 12 years. And on the Central Coast that neglect in cutting deep into the wounds of people seeking emergency treatment.

 

Dominic Perrottet and the NSW Liberals record on health is sobering:

 

• It took over 15 hours 25 minutes for 90% of patients to depart from emergency departments – almost double the clinical recommended benchmark of eight hours.

 

• Over 2 million patients left emergency departments without being admitted or referred in the last year alone.

 

• Half of patients with the highest category emergency did not start treatment on time.

 

• A quarter of patients who arrived to emergency departments in an ambulance waited longer than 30 minutes in the back of an ambulance.

 

Since 2015-2016 NSW has lost 365 beds, while at the same time Victoria increased capacity by 598 beds and Queensland by 1,027.

 

NSW also has the second fewest number of paramedics in Australia.

 

It’s clear, Premier Dominic Perrottet should be spending his time coming up with policies and solutions to fix what is undoubtedly a crisis in our healthcare system, rather than looking for someone else to take the blame for his mess.

 

Shadow Minister for the Central Coast David Harris said, “Unfortunately the Perrottet Government is all about cutting ribbons but not about safe staffing levels at our Central Coast hospitals.

 

“We (Labor) have raised continually the concerns of staff regarding pressures on our Emergency wards and elective surgery waiting lists.

 

“Concerningly, the local Health District is currently trying to reduce Full Time positions in Radiography and Pharmacy despite staff demonstrating they need more staff not less.

 

“The Government repeatedly says that everything is fine but everyone knows that's not the case.

 

“NSW Labor has unveiled our plan to implement safe staffing levels beginning with Emergency.”

 

Shadow Minister for Health Ryan Park said that a Minns Labor Government will:

 

• Introduce minimum and enforceable safe staffing levels to public hospitals, starting with emergency departments. The proposal will see an additional 1,200 nurses and midwives recruited into the system in the first four years of a Labor Government – over and above any existing hiring;

 

• Recruit an additional 500 paramedics to regional and rural communities in the first term of government – over and above any existing hiring;

 

• Implement all recommendations of the rural health inquiry; and

 

• Provide $17 million in funding for Kids helpline, and commit to introducing suicide prevention legislation.

 

“Unsustainable working hours, poorly coordinated recruitment and retention strategies, inadequate remuneration, lack of resources, threats to physical safety and a culture of fear are pushing some to breaking point, to the detriment of both the individual and the communities they serve,” Ryan Park said.

Many frontline healthcare workers feel that the department “does not appear to appreciate the extent of the exhaustion and depth of concerns felt by many nurses and allied health workers” across the state, the latest report into the State’s health system said.

 

David Harris said, “You have to recognise a problem before you can try to fix it - that's why this tired Government needs to go in March and a FRESH Approach adopted.

 

“Our overworked Emergency Departments are a perfect case for change."

 

The Grapevine emailed the Liberal Member for Terrigal about the current problems in our local health care system and asked “what does the Perrottet Government intend to do to fix the problem?

 

“It is noted with concern that the local Health District is currently trying to reduce Full Time positions in Radiography and Pharmacy despite staff demonstrating they need more staff not less.”

 

There was no response from Mr Crouch and yet he expects to be re elected in March for failing, among other things, to push his government to implement immediate strategies to fix our ailing health system. Sitting on the sideline is just not good enough!

 

Data reveals Coast hospitals slip further into crisis

 

NEW data revealed by the Bureau of Health Information has confirmed the crisis gripping Central Coast Hospitals revealing spikes in bed block, ambulance banking and ED wait times.

 

The April-June data, recently released paints a dire picture of Central Coast Health which has been under severe pressure due to staff shortages and burnout.

 

The new data only confirms that the Central Coast healthcare system has been pushed to the brink under Dominic Perrottet and the Liberals’ 12 years in power.

 

Emergency Departments are overstretched at both Wyong and Gosford Hospitals. Over 60 per cent of Gosford Hospital ED patients and a majority of Wyong Hospital ED patients waited over four hours for treatment. Some patients at Gosford Hospital were left waiting over 12 hours for treatment.

 

Patients waiting for ambulances also faced huge wait times particularly those who were classed as emergency.

 

Emergency cases are classified as priority 1 (P1) by NSW Ambulance and require an immediate response. Almost two thirds of P1 patients within the Gosford SA3 area and over 60 per cent of P1 patients within the Wyong SA3 area were not attended within 15 minutes. The longest within the Gosford SA3 was over 30 minutes.

 

Elective Surgery has also blown out with waiting times for non-urgent surgeries rising to the highest and second highest time on record for Gosford and Wyong Hospitals, respectively.

 

Gosford’s wait for non-urgent wait times have ballooned out to 485 day while Wyong’s wait now stands at 437.

 

These statistics come off the back of the CCLHD’s attempts to slash the number of radiographers and pharmacists at Gosford and Wyong hospitals.

 

Emergency Department

 

The number of emergency department patients who waited over four hours for treatment between April – June 2022:

 

• 60.4% at Gosford Hospital (up 8% since April 2021)

 

• 52.6% at Wyong Hospital (up 6% since March 2021)

 

• 50.4% at Central Coast Hospitals (up 7% since March 2021)

 

Some patients at Gosford Hospital were left waiting over 12 hours and 30 minutes for treatment

 

Ambulance Wait Times

 

Emergency cases are classified as priority 1 (P1) by NSW Ambulance and require an immediate response.

 

Between April – June 2022, the number of P1 where an ambulance did not arrive within 15 minutes:

 

• 65% (up 11.6% since 2021) in the Gosford SA3 area (Gosford, Terrigal, and parts of The Entrance electorates)

 

• 60.7% (up 7.6% since 2021) in the Wyong SA3 area (Wyong, parts of Swansea and The Entrance electorates)

 

Some within the Gosford SA3 were left waiting up to 2 hrs and 7mins.

 

Elective Surgery

 

Between April – June 2022, wait times for non-urgent elective surgeries have increased to 485 days at Gosford Hospital and 437 days at Wyong Hospital.

 

This represents the worst wait time for Gosford Hospital non-urgent surgery since the BHI began collecting this data in 2010.

 

Shadow Minister for the Central Coast, David Harris MP says the statistics demonstrate a failure of investment by long-term Liberal Governments.

 

“It’s clear to anyone paying attention that this is a staffing crisis a decade in the making. Liberal National Governments at both the Federal and State levels have dropped the ball on training and recruitment together with failure to address pay and working conditions and our hospital system is now seeing the poor outcomes.”

 

Member for The Entrance, David Mehan said “These are worrying statistics and I’m looking forward to the Central Coast Local Health District outlining their plans to improve our public health system.”

 

Liesl Tesch, Member for Gosford, said “This new data isn’t shocking to so many who have gone through the doors at Gosford or Wyong Hospitals. Our Emergency Departments are stretched to capacity and ambulances are queueing for hours to offload patients.

 

“Nurses and other health staff are feeling so burnt out after years of pay cuts, staff shortages and tough conditions at the hospital. It is so important that the Perrottet Government do something urgently to address this growing crisis at our local hospitals.”

 

This data confirms what health workers keep on saying, the system is not coping. This is resulting in poorer outcomes for patients and staff suffering from burnout after being overworked.