24 patients died in Nambour General Hospital’s emergency department in the second half of 2009

THE “sickest patients” in Queensland visit the Nambour General Hospital’s emergency department.

The latest Queensland Health figures show Nambour hospital has the highest number of admissions and transfers in the state.

The revelation comes after the number of deaths in the emergency department in the six months to the end of last year were made public this week.

At Nambour, 24 patients died. Most had life-threatening illnesses on arrival.

As a snapshot, in the month of July there was one death in category one, which is the group of patients who are delivered by ambulance.

They are most probably in cardiac arrest.

There were two deaths during the same period in category two, which is classed as those who are having difficulty breathing and have critical injuries.

In category three, there was one death.

Patients in this category have severe illness, heavy bleeding or major fractures.

In the month of September, there was six deaths in the emergency department in category one. Two deaths were in category two and one in category three.

In December, there were two deaths in category one, one in category two and one in category three.

Australian Medical Association president Dr Mason Stevenson said the latest figures made a mockery of the government’s decision to delay the delivery of the 450-bed hospital at Kawana.

“The sickest patients in the state visit Nambour hospital,” he said.

“It’s also the most under-resourced hospital in the state. Nambour hospital is well below the state average in almost all the sections.

“AMA supports the release of this up-to-date data, but they have had access to these figures for some time.”

In July, ambulance officers spent a total of 494 hours ramping – when a patient has to wait in the ambulance at the hospital because there are no free beds – outside Nambour hospital.

All category one patients were treated within two minutes, while only 40% of category two patients were treated within 10 minutes and 35% of category three patients within 30 minutes.

In September, ambulance officers spent 352 hours ramped.

In category one, 96% of patients were seen in the required timeframe compared to 48% in category two and 31% in category three 31.

In December, ambulance officers lost 222 hours to ramping.

In category one, 96% patients were seen in the required time, compared to 65% in category two and 37% in category three.

Caloundra Hospital performed better and fared on par with the state average in most waiting times.

Queensland Health did not respond to questions from the Daily yesterday.

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