$200 million to increase hospital capacity

• $200 million will be invested over two years to reduce long-stay patient numbers and free up hospital beds.
• The funding comes as the latest quarterly data, which shows broad improvements across the health system, also reveals rising numbers of long-stay patients.
• The funding will go towards a range of initiatives to get long-stay patients into more appropriate settings and improve hospital capacity.
• Long-stay patients currently cost the health system around $1.7 million per day.

The Palaszczuk Government is investing an additional $200 million over the next two years to reduce the number of long-stay patients in public hospitals.

The investment will mean greater hospital capacity and increase the number of beds available for other patients requiring care.

The new funding comes as the latest Hospital Performance data shows improvements across several key metrics over the September quarter, including a record number of elective surgeries.

However, the data also shows that the number of long-stay patients in Queensland hospitals has risen to 877, an increase of 247 patients since August last year.

Long-stay patients are medically fit for discharge but remain in hospital due to the lack of available aged care or disability accommodation and supports, which are predominantly funded by the Commonwealth.

This funding will assist with ensuring long-stay patients are cared for in the most appropriate setting.

The initiatives will include:

• Purchasing private sector aged care beds in local communities,
• Supporting private nursing homes to care for more patients with complex needs,
• Enhancing partnerships with the NDIS,
• Expanding the numbers of staff employed in Aged Care Assessment Teams, and
• Strengthening existing initiatives including the Long-Stay Rapid Response program and Hospital in the Home.
• Investigating options to transfer long-stay patients from tertiary hospitals back to rural hospitals closer to their home communities.

Quotes attributable to the Minister for Health, Mental Health and Ambulance Services and Minister for Women Shannon Fentiman:

“Our July-September data shows we are tracking in the right direction.

“However, after almost a decade of the former Federal government underfunding aged care, the number of long-stay patients is continuing to increase.

“Our $200 million investment to reduce long-stay patient numbers will help us significantly improve hospital capacity and ensure long-stay patients are getting more appropriate care.

“Queensland public hospitals currently accommodate 877 long-stay patients – that’s the equivalent of filling Rockhampton, Toowoomba and Redcliffe hospitals combined. 

“These patients are one of the biggest pressures being faced by our health system, through no fault of their own.

“When people who should be in aged care are still in hospital, it means that someone else can’t use that bed.

“No one wants to be in hospital longer than they need to. If we can help them into more appropriate accommodation, with the right supports, then both the patients and the hospitals will benefit.

“The cost of long-stay patients to the public health system is around $1.7 million a day and the impact on a hospital’s capacity to manage patient flow and deliver acute care is significant.

“I have no doubt these investments will help Queensland Health continue to deliver world-class healthcare and ease pressure on our busy hospitals.”

ENDS

Media Contact: Phoenix Campbell 0439 949 719