Queensland government questioned over decision to use Sea World Resort for hospital patients
Hospital patients on the Gold Coast are being sent to Sea World Resort to help ease overcrowding in public hospitals.
The revelation came in a fiery question time debate as the opposition focused on the new Queensland Health Minister, Shannon Fentiman.
A leaked video shows what appears to be doctors discussing the plan for low acuity patients — those who don't need emergency care — to be moved into the resort.
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Hospital patients on the Gold Coast are being sent to Sea World Resort to help ease overcrowding in public hospitals. 9News
According to the clip, 24 rooms of the hotel will used for this purpose.
Shadow Health Minister Ros Bates sprung the news on her new counterpart during question time.
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The government quickly likened the situation to a 2014 proposal from former LNP health minister Lawrence Springborg to put patients in purpose-built hotels on hospital grounds.
Fentiman argued using the hotels helped discharge patients faster and "helps with bed flow pressures, to ease wait times in emergency departments".
The LNP said it was not just low-care patients being transferred, citing an 81-year-old man who suffered a broken pelvis in a car accident.
A leaked video shows what appears to be doctor's discussing the plan for low acuity patients - those who don't need emergency care - to be moved into the resort. 9News
His family told 9News they were disgusted with his treatment and felt the move to Sea World impacted his rehabilitation.
"The hotel bed could not be height-adjusted and the chairs were not suitable for an elderly patient with hip breaks," LNP MP Sam O'Connor said in Parliament.
Fentiman said in response that complaints from constituents were taken "very seriously but these are decisions made by clinicians and we respect them".
Other families gave better reviews.
"I think it's a more relaxing environment and not as stressful," Melissa told 9News after her sister was a patient there.
Ambulance ramping photo sent to 9News of Ipswich Hospital in Queensland 9News
"I was just a bit dumbfounded when they first suggested it."
Also debated in State Parliament today was surgical and emergency department wait times and ambulance ramping, which is still a big issue.
One photo sent to 9News, from Ipswich Hospital, shows the scale of vehicles waiting to offload patients, with some waiting up to five hours to be admitted.
The government is hoping satellite hospitals will ease the pressure on the system.
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