Teresa Gambaro (Petrie, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise to speak about the appalling state of Redcliffe Hospital. I have real concerns regarding this hospital in my electorate of Petrie, but what is the state member for Redcliffe, Lillian Van Litsenburg, doing to fix the hospital? Absolutely nothing, I am very sorry to say. Ms Van Litsenburg and her boss, Queensland Premier Peter Beattie, have a very poor record on health.

I note that in the Redcliffe & Bayside Herald of Wednesday, 14 March, there are no less than three articles which highlight the appalling state of this local hospital and its health services. One newspaper report tells the story of a fit and healthy young Clontarf woman who was hit with a sudden illness so severe that she could not sit up, but she was denied access to the hospital’s emergency department. She spent the whole night on a gurney after being told that nine out of the 10 beds in the emergency department that night were taken up with people suffering from smoking related illnesses. Her commitment to a healthy lifestyle meant absolutely nothing to the Beattie government.

The hospital is currently being reviewed after the public hospitals performance report that was released earlier this month showed higher than normal death and surgery complication rates for some patient categories. This included common complaints such as heart attacks and strokes, and higher than average complication rates for some surgery, including hysterectomies.

I would like to acknowledge the most wonderful work that the hospital staff do, particularly under these very difficult and trying conditions, and I want to pay tribute to them for showing up to work each day, particularly when their budgets are being cut and they are working under incredible conditions. But why is this hospital not being properly resourced? That is what Lillian Van Litsenburg, as the state member, really needs to address. She needs to stand up and fight for funds for her electorate. She needs to fight for better health services for the people of Redcliffe.

There is Peter Beattie’s shameful record on the emergency department of the nearby Caboolture Hospital, which was closed for a while, with all of the emergency patients again transferred to Redcliffe Hospital in my electorate, placing even further incredible burdens on the Redcliffe Hospital.

The low number of ambulance officers in the Redcliffe region is also a real concern to many of my constituents. The electorate has a high percentage of elderly residents who rely on their local ambulance officers to be available when they need them most. Reducing the number of ambulance officers available on the Redcliffe peninsula places enormous pressure on the dedicated officers who remain in the area and who have seen a dramatic increase in their workload. It is unbelievable that the people of Redcliffe have had to put up with a dreadful hospital system and now they also have to put up with a reduction in the funding available to the ambulance services. They deserve more than this. (Time expired)