Colin Boyce (Flynn, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about the Queensland health crisis and, specifically, the issues that Gladstone Hospital faces. Most women look forward to the birth of their baby with feelings of anticipation as well as excitement. But, for many women in the wider Gladstone region, this excitement is tempered by feelings of anxiety and fear. This follows the Gladstone Hospital maternity unit being on bypass since 8 July, and the gradual decline of other medical services. For many years, the provision of medical services in rural Queensland has become less and less; so much so that even basic services, such as being able to give birth at Gladstone Hospital, are not being provided.

The Gladstone Hospital serves the regional city of 60,000 people and surrounding towns, including Biloela. The maternity unit delivers about 600 babies a year. It is the only hospital available to expectant mothers, after the Queensland Labor government bought the former Mater Hospital and incorporated it into the public facility in 2020. I released a petition on 18 August drawing attention to the decline in the availability of maternity and other medical services at the Gladstone Hospital and the negative impact this has had on the wider Gladstone region and surrounding areas. The petition calls for the Premier, the Hon. Annastacia Palaszczuk, and the health minister, the Hon. Yvette D'Ath, to provide adequate funding, resources and qualified medical professionals to the Gladstone Hospital to deliver maternity and other medical services. So far the petition has been signed by over 2,000 people from across Central Queensland, including expectant mothers and their concerned family and friends. I've been inundated with stories of pregnant women who, at the last minute, had to be bypassed and travelled 90 minutes down the road to give birth to their child at the Rockhampton Hospital.

Recently ABC Capricornia covered the story of a Biloela couple, Mariana Duran and Victor Villamil. The couple had planned to have their baby, Camille, at the Gladstone Hospital. After Mrs Duran developed gestational diabetes, they opted for a maternity unit with obstetricians on the staff. They booked accommodation close to the Gladstone Hospital, and everything seemed to be running to plan when they visited the day before their baby was due. But, when Mrs Duran went into labour, she was told that they would not be able to assist in the delivery and that she would need to go to Rockhampton. Mrs Duran and Mr Villamil left to discuss their options but had to return to the hospital due to Mrs Duran being in too much pain in their car. Mrs Duran was eventually offered transport to Rockhampton by ambulance but had to wait more than an hour for paramedics to arrive. I have also been contacted by numerous staff from the Gladstone Hospital who have concerns that the maternity unit is going to be closed for some time, but they are too worried to speak about it because of fear of losing their jobs.

It is simply unacceptable that mothers should have to run the risk of giving birth on the side of a highway, especially on the side of a highway that is substandard and littered with safety hazards, including many potholes. Unfortunately this is all part of the ongoing health debacle in Queensland that the Labor government is not addressing. It is something that that they do not want to address. It seems that their policy of centralising health care to hospitals like Rockhampton, and to Brisbane, has added to the demise of basic health care in outlying communities such as Biloela.

Unfortunately many towns in the Flynn electorate are experiencing similar problems, as are many regional communities across Queensland. Earlier this year I met with Dr Richard Tan, who is a long-time GP, with over 50 years servicing the Biloela community and hospital. We discussed the health needs of the region and the need for routine CT scans to be carried out in the Biloela area. With the amount of time that the Biloela ambulance spends travelling to Rockhampton and to Gladstone for routine CT scans, it would be beneficial for the community and patients to investigate the potential for having this service at the Biloela Hospital. Figures received from the Queensland health minister show that the number of hospital patients who are transported to Rockhampton and Gladstone hospitals is more than one per day, with 46 transfers on average per month. These figures do not include the number of private patients who also travel our roads to seek routine scans in Rockhampton and Gladstone hospitals. We also need to consider the paramedics, the hospital staff, the drivers of the ambulances and the ramping at the Rockhampton Hospital when they arrive. This means that Biloela is basically down an ambulance and at least two staff members for a full day, every day.

The Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service says that Biloela does not have enough need for their own CT unit, due to the way these numbers are reported. How many private people travel to Rockhampton or Gladstone during the week to have a CT scan? With ambulance ramping reaching 56 per cent at Rockhampton last year, we cannot afford for our hardworking paramedics and our ambulance staff to be sitting at the Rockhampton or Gladstone hospitals waiting for routine CT scans. The benefits to our patients and our communities, as well as taking pressure off the health system in larger hospitals, should be plenty of incentive for Queensland Health to make this happen.

The trend is becoming extremely clear. Our regional communities continue to suffer under the Queensland Labor government's health policies. Cabinet minister and member for Gladstone the Hon. Glenn Butcher is part of a government that is introducing the world's highest royalty rates in the coal industry yet cannot even provide resources for the Gladstone Hospital, which needs to deliver maternity services and CT scanners in Biloela. They do not realise how much GDP comes from the Gladstone region and from Central Queensland. Mr Butcher and the Queensland government have become feckless and indolent. They should focus their attention on regional Queensland by delivering solutions to return maternity and other medical services to the Gladstone Hospital as soon as possible.

As the federal member for Flynn, it is my duty to apply pressure on the Queensland government to provide adequate health services in regional Queensland, including by restoring maternity services to the Gladstone Hospital as soon as possible. The current situation would not be acceptable in Brisbane and should not be acceptable in Gladstone. My Gladstone Hospital petition is on my website, and I encourage Central Queensland residents to sign it.

I wish to quote an important statement from Dr Martin Luther King: 'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.' Madam Deputy Speaker, I can assure you and the Gladstone regional residents that I will not become silent until the Gladstone Hospital maternity unit is returned to its full functional capacity.