Regional Queensland hospital on maternity bypass for three years with patients treated via telehealth

4 months ago

Concerns have been raised about hospital staffing levels after a Queensland mum visited a regional emergency department which didn't have a doctor. The Biloela Hospital has been plagued by staff shortages. It comes amid efforts to reinstate birthing services there.

Transcript

00:00At 36 weeks pregnant, first time mum Isabella Zarco had a headache that wouldn't go away.

00:09I got a bit sick and started seeing stars once I had a vomit.

00:14I went up to the hospital thinking this isn't right.

00:17The nurses there were lovely, they did all my odds, looked me over.

00:21However, there was no doctor there.

00:23Instead, the Biloela Hospital gave her a telehealth appointment.

00:27It does create that sort of communication barrier, being a screen rather than an in-person.

00:33I was just advised to go home and take Panadol with a can of Coke, which was a bit odd.

00:39When she saw a doctor a few days later in Rockhampton, Miss Zarco was diagnosed with preeclampsia

00:45and baby Philippa was born by emergency caesarean.

00:49We have unfortunately had to rely on telehealth at the Biloela Hospital more than we should have lately

00:56because we have struggled to have the doctors.

00:59We would love to have our own workforce on the ground at Biloela Hospital,

01:03but we know that we are doing everything that we can to recruit, attract and retain the workforce.

01:10The hospital is still trying to resume birthing three years since going on bypass.

01:16They were birthing around 40 to 50 births before the bypass.

01:20So we need to look for the workforce that's going to support that amount of birthing through that facility.

01:26The state government recently reviewed regional maternity services,

01:30finding eight facilities across Queensland experienced periods of birthing bypass in the 18 months to January.

01:38The Cooktown and Chinchilla hospitals are also still on bypass.

01:43Rural doctors say more incentives are needed.

01:46Metro appears more attractive and will always attract certain doctors,

01:50but those doctors that want to go out to rural and remote communities,

01:54they need incentives, they need to be able to access housing.

01:58For now, six units are being built on-site at Biloela to support visiting locums.

02:08Thank you for your attention to the city.

02:10Prioritously, thanks to the city of Colesco,

02:16the county of Las Vegas,

02:19for their outside and to support visiting locums.

02:21You can now ask you a number of those things.

02:22If you are dying, please go ahead and ask yourself a number of their own relationships.

02:25You can take a number of those places where you have mentioned this,

02:28what are the areas that are at Biloela Williamson,

02:31what are the areas that are at Biloela,

02:33what are these different advantages of the units that are being built?

Regional Queensland hospital on maternity bypass for three years with patients treated via telehealth

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