Queenslanders are being urged by the state’s Health Minister not to go to hospital unless it’s a medical emergency due to almost every public facility in the south-east at capacity.
The president of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, Simon Judkins, says the issue lies in a lack of investment in staff able to cope with increasing demand, leading to both staff and patients suffering, and an increase in aggression and violence.
Beth Mohl, of the Queensland Nurses Union, believes structural issues need to be addressed from the root cause, saying, “There’s a whole lot of issues in relation to the inter-relationship with nursing homes, with NDIS, with primary health care. People are under so much financial pressure in the community … people can’t necessarily afford to go to their GP.”