MEDIA STATEMENT: Scathing Audit report reveals true depth of Labor's health crisis

Scathing Audit report reveals true depth of Labor's health crisis

• The Auditor-General’s report confirms Queensland’s health system was in a critical condition and desperate need of treatment under the former Government.
• The audit is a scathing assessment of Labor’s health legacy, outlining skyrocketing ramping and soaring  waitlists.
• The bombshell report reveals a chronic failure to maintain Queensland Health assets. 

The independent Queensland Audit Office (QAO) has released a report - Health 2024 - on Queensland Health's performance in 2023-24 which has laid bare Labor's record of failures in financial performance and sustainability, asset management, and managing the demand for health services.

It confirmed what the Crisafulli Government has revealed to Queenslanders since taking office, that Labor had a history of hiding budget blowouts, and was downplaying the immense pressure the health system is operating under. 

Some of the damning 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% of health buildings will require replacement within next 10 years. 

• Long waits for specialist outpatient care has risen 29% in 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.

Last year, ambulances spent 157,602 hours ramped outside emergency departments. 

Outpatient appointments also soared, with the report uncovering the number of long-waits last year was 29 per cent higher than the same time in 2015.  

Meaning more than 100,000 Queenslanders were left waiting longer than clinically recommended for critical services like cardiology, ophthalmology, paediatric medicine, and general surgery. 

The Minister for Health and Ambulance Services, Tim Nicholls, said the Auditor-General’s report was a startling insight into Labor’s inability to manage health services. 

“Queenslanders can now read for themselves just how badly Labor handled our health system. It’s diabolical that ramping has gone up every year since 2016,” Mr Nicholls said. 

“Through 39 state-wide Crisis Town Halls, we listened while Queenslanders told stories about losing loved ones because ambulances didn’t arrive in time or were ramped outside the hospital metres from help.” 

“This shows in black and white the impact on the lives of Queenslanders every day, from the top to the bottom of the state.” 

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.  

“More than 3,000 lives were put at risk because Labor refused to call these facilities what they are. The Crisafulli Government committed to rename satellite hospitals and end patient confusion. We have been consulting with clinicians on the right name for these facilities and will have more to say on this in the coming weeks.” 

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.  

“Not only did the former Labor Government under-fund new hospitals, they also failed to maintain existing ones. Labor left health facilities across the state in need of $2 billion of maintenance and repair.”  

“Four years ago, the Queensland Audit Office called out the backlog of high-risk asset maintenance. But instead, Labor cannibalised the critically needed budget for hospital repair and maintenance to deal with their cost escalations and politicised announcements, it was a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.” 

“Queenslanders deserve a world class health system, and that’s what the LNP’s Easier Access to Health Services Plan will deliver. We campaigned on healing the health crisis, we are going to diagnose, we are going to treat, and we are going to cure the health crisis.” 

“We have already abolished Labor’s patient tax, and we will continue to free up hospital beds, clear waiting lists, and put more doctors, nurses and paramedics on the front line.” 

“We will publish real time hospital data, so Queenslanders know the truth about what’s happening in their hospitals, not finding out when it’s politically convenient.” 

“Despite the tireless work of Queensland’s clinical staff, a decade of Labor government management has put our health system on life support, but the LNP has the right plan to restore our health services to where you need them.” 

ENDS. 

MEDIA CONTACT: David McLachlan, 0428 716 171

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Some of the current high-risk asset maintenance issues that have been identified by the Queensland Health Department include: 

• Pre and post operative infrastructure in Charleville that is 83 years old, has reached the end of its useful life and is non-compliant, with theatre mechanical services failing numerous times. 

• Airconditioning and ventilation major equipment at St George Hospital installed in 1975, now beyond its nominated useful life. 

• Radiation oncology health technology in Metro South that reached its end of life in 2023 and has broken down 32 times in the past 12 months, causing delays to treatment and limiting patient access. 

• Reverse osmosis units at Children’s Health and Central Queensland that need to be upgraded to meet Australian Standards. The Longreach unit is more than 25 years old and is no longer providing consistent water quality to the department. 

• Medical gas installations at various sites across Central Queensland that are at risk of failure or do not comply with Australian Standards. 

• Failing concrete bedding in Darling Downs HHS facilities, causing mould and severe deterioration to flooring, affecting patient, staff and public safety.