A number of deaths at Logan Hospital have been attributed to “inaccessibility” and “treatment delays” according to a leaked report.
A risk-analysis of the emergency department exposed “significant risks” to patient well-being due to over demand exacerbated by Covid.
The report, compiled in 2022 and leaked last week, identified Logan Hospital as “under the most pressure in the state” at the time.
It claimed there was a “significant number of clinical incidents” that resulted in “loss of life” and “permanent harm” due to delayed treatment.
Health minister Shannon Fentiman said the hospital’s risk rating had since improved but remained high.
“Since 2022 a lot has changed at the Logan Hospital,” she said.
But shadow health minister Ross Bates claimed, “nothing has changed since then”, and the report was proof of “long-running serious and systemic issues” at the hospital.
“The report is very clear these issues are not the fault of our hardworking doctors and nurses, who are doing the best with the resources they have,” Ms Bates said.
“This is the result of Labor failing to adequately resource and run one of the state’s biggest hospitals.”
Ms Fentiman said she understood Logan Hospital continued to be “under immense pressure”.
“I do not come into this place and say anything other than it is one of the busiest hospitals in our system,” Ms Fentiman said.
According to Ms Fentiman, the $1 billion expansion of Logan Hospital was an effort to curb these issues.
“We have undertaken the biggest build in Queensland Health’s history,” she said.
“Logan Hospital is the shining example of that—a huge expansion.”
The report claimed patients at the hospital’s emergency department were receiving treatment in “sub-optimal” locations, including waiting rooms and corridors.
It said increased workloads, which resulted in dissatisfaction and burnout, also contributed to the high risk.
Ms Fentiman said there had been a “huge injection” of frontline staff at Logan Hospital since 2022.
She said the hospital expansion project was more than just buildings and beds.
“It is more nurses, it is more midwives, and it is more doctors at that hospital,” she said.
“It is more allied health staff, it is more operational staff—the wardies, the chefs.”
Members of the opposition have suggested these “systemic issues” resulted in the recent death of local grandfather Russell Bates, 76.
Mr Bates died at Logan Hospital just days after reportedly spending seven hours in an emergency department corridor while waiting for a bed.
Ms Fentiman said it was up to doctors and nurses at the hospital to investigate the case.
“If there are any systemic issues, we will absolutely do a further investigation,” Ms Fentiman said.
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