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The Forum > Article Comments > Queensland paediatrics deserves better > Comments

Queensland paediatrics deserves better : Comments

By Harry Smith, published 29/11/2012

The problems of adopting a one-hospital policy.

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Yes they do deserve much better, than a single city centric specialist hospital, in a gridlocked Greater Brisbane; and, patients and their parents often required to travel thousands of kilometres, and stay in comparatively expensive hotels and motels, just to access specialist paediatric care!
What we really need, are more coal face working paediatricians, rather than a monumental edifice, that fairly screams, we know how to waste money; and or, bureaucratise city centric medicine.
We need to press on with the NBN, particularly with regard to outlying rural areas.
And put more rural practise specialists out there, with online and virtually instant specialist video conferencing facilities, at their fingertips.
We went the wrong way, when we centralised medicine, in the most decentralised state, and paid for it with a thousand fewer beds.
And, choppers flying high care patients to Brisbane, at far greater cost and risk, than simply treating them far sooner, in better resourced regional centres; and closer to their friends and families!
Rhrosty.
Posted by Rhrosty, Thursday, 29 November 2012 12:15:01 PM
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The above article highlights the failed reasoning of the secrecy of the New Children's hospital and the impact it will have on the lives of Queensland families..new born babies requiring urgent medical treatment seperated from their mothers at the RBWH, parents seperated from their children in major accidents, lack of emergency support in outlying areas due to the fact they have to travel through peak hour traffic to safely deliver our children to a failure of a children's hospital. Lack of beds, longer waiting times when both hospitals merge, depts downsized offering less services than what children are offered now..doctor resigning or taking positions elsewhere due to this decision. All these attest to the future failure of a pretty hospital at the cost of a fully functional world recognised childrens hospital..This was Beattie and Blighs folly, but the lies and misleading statements made by the LNP will be the death of quality care for our vulnerable children and possibly cost lives. it is heartening to see many parents and doctors still willing to stick their necks out to bring justice and truth to the families of Queensland and most of all HOPE that this decision will be reversed.
Posted by fightingmum, Saturday, 1 December 2012 1:17:21 PM
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Yep, sounds just like a whine from vested interests, who do not want to have to change to a system better suited to the people they are employed to serve.
Posted by Hasbeen, Saturday, 1 December 2012 2:31:55 PM
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Comment by Hasbeen - Totally agree with you Hasbeen, but you have the facts wrong, the vested interests as you put it prefer that they serve the children of Queensland to have quality care and not a half baked hospital being run by a group of people that seem to have other vested interests and that, is not our children. The facts speak for themselves you only have to research the answers, When the govt can advocate the New Children's Hospital that doesnt even have room for hydrotherapy and gait lab for our vulnerable children....and that is only some of the facilities our kids will lose if the Royal Children's closes....Please don't judge until you have all the answers.
Posted by fightingmum, Saturday, 1 December 2012 9:59:38 PM
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Fightingmum, Our local hospital was without any maternity services of any description for over 10 years, despite a growing population. Many women suffered when the long distances some had to drive for examinations meant they went with out.

You know, I never heard a call, from the city, for this critical service to be supplied.

None of the services you want are available to kids in Jandowae, or Atherton for example, & I have never heard an outcry from the city to supply them out bush.

I am one of those funny people who believe that all state citizens should get the same services, so I guess you won't be surprised to learn that I have not much interest in specialised services, that are only available if you live in the South East, or are very wealthy, & can afford to have one parent live in the city for months.

When I hear of the campaign by city folk to have these services supplied in the bush, at least on a visiting basis, I'll start campaigning with you.
Posted by Hasbeen, Saturday, 1 December 2012 11:07:30 PM
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Don't be ridiculous, Hasbeen.

It makes practical sense for a fortunate country like Australia to site the most advanced and the most comprehensive medical facilities in the major capitals.

If the Queensland government is providing Queenslanders with second best, that is a failing.

In my state of WA, the government is beginning construction on a new state of the art children's hospital, moving it from it's present site to a suburb down the road and linking it to another major health campus...excellent stuff for the children in WA.

Here's a peek:
http://www.newchildrenshospitalproject.health.wa.gov.au/TheNewHospital/facade.aspx

It would be great if all the expertise could be spread up and down states, but it's not always possible. At least governments should be moving forward in this area as is the WA government - not backwards as appears to be the case in Queensland.
Posted by Poirot, Sunday, 2 December 2012 12:01:24 AM
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Hasbeen, if you google info on Royal Childrens Hospital and New Childrens Hospital you will find lots of info and newspaper articles way back to 2009 when the fight intensified with us parents becoming involved, there are articles that appeared in Townsville and outer areas where we were stating that the possible blowout of over $2billion should have been used to upgrade facilities up north and outer regions, this didn't happen and the original cost of 700 million for a pretty new hospital that doesn't even cater for the current population much less than future (and this will impact greatly on families from up north) as there is going to be a lack of outer town accommodation. The impact of the closure of the Royal Childrens will be felt by all of Queensland's children and families. The Beattie/Bligh govt did not have our children at heart when this decision was made and the Newman govt has broken pre-election promises to keep our children safe...We are not only losing a fully functional hospital we are also losing highly qualified medical staff that are standing up for the rights of the children... The secrecy and false planning needs to be followed through with a Royal Commission and only then will our children continue with the quality care they now have...The sad thing is QHealth is allowing the RCH to become a sad and crestfallen place with staff morale low, the staff are fearful of speaking about the move to the new hospital and as a parent i resent the fact that this wonderful hospital has been subject to this major upheavel. As parents we have not been able to stop the building of the New Hospital but in reality the fight continues to keep the Royal Children's hospital open for future use in its current capacity as population growth will warrant both hospitals by 2014 as there will be two hospitals merging, (the RCH and the Mater Children's) both usually running at capacity even now without the merger.
Posted by fightingmum, Sunday, 2 December 2012 8:48:16 PM
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Poirot...The sad reality is the Government is moving the Royal Children's hospital to one of the busiest areas of the city, an area that is not easily accessible to families from both north and south areas...They are also removing it from a major medical complex the adults hospital that is attached by a corridor, enabling families to remain together in crisis times...such a children and parents in cases of accidents, seriously ill newborn babies and mothers without the need to be seperated by peak hour traffic and distance which will become a reality if we lose our battle. This fight has become a political football and the focus has been lost on the reality of this decision...The LNP has continued with Labors lies and even though they have been with us on the journey to fight the decision from day one and have all the facts we have been let adrift in this area so it is up to the doctors and families to continue this fight..We have many voices as our voices come from our children. Congratulations on the WA government for having the hindsight to attach the childrens to a main medical facility.
Posted by fightingmum, Sunday, 2 December 2012 9:08:02 PM
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Hi fightingmum - welcome to the forum.

It seems the Queensland government is doing the exact opposite of the WA government. Our present children's hospital, Princess Margaret, has been in its current location for years. But it's squashed into a busy intersecting area. The move is actually going to unite it with the campus of the QE2 medical centre only a another suburb along, but marginally less busy and still very central, and with the added bonus of it being linked with a first class medical campus.

They are also building the new Fiona Stanley hospital south of the metro area in an area of growing population. Both these buildings are huge undertakings, but seem to be quite visionary.

Getting back to kids health, we have a telethon here in Perth every year to raise money for the Telethon Institute - a research facility set up by Fiona Stanley (it raised 16 million dollars this year)...all in all WA seems to have prioritised children's medical infrastructure, and perhaps other states could take a leaf out of the WA governments book in that regard.

Good on you for speaking up - good luck in the future.
Posted by Poirot, Sunday, 2 December 2012 11:04:55 PM
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To Poirot
Your comparison of rational Perth and irrational Brisbane are spot on. Thank you.The surreal madness of breaking up a well-functioning complex of 3 major mutually supporting teaching hospitals and medical school is a predictable result of the lack of any supportive evidence-based documentation. The secretive process leading to the decision is a grimly fascinating saga of abuse of due process. In the meantime, Queensland is bleeding, and staff are being sacked because the Newman Government, in spite of pre-election assurances, has no intention of controlling a $2 billion haemorrhage this plan is causing.
From Arwi.
Posted by arwi, Sunday, 9 December 2012 11:14:38 AM
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