“Sunshine Coast Cancer patients desperately requiring urgent treatment are having their lives put at risk by waiting months longer than clinically acceptable.
“The State Government talks about health funding and services in the future but fails to prioritise and deliver the most urgent care needed today.
“Cancer patients can’t wait years for treatment they need today.
“The State Government is not being honest about it.
“The State Government has dropped the ball on health by failing to fund this urgent care.
“I know of at least three Sunshine Coast cancer patients who have had to wait months longer than they should for treatment.
“This is extremely distressing for them and unacceptable.
“It is putting their lives at risk and undermining their chances of recovery.
“One patient told me they were considering accessing their super fund to get the treatment but had been assured by Queensland Health they would get good care – only then to find they would wait months and months for treatment. The cancer is in their lymph nodes.
“The Sunshine Coast University Hospital was supposed to have a built capacity of 738 beds by the middle of 2021 – that’s last year.
“Whether the Government was telling the truth about the beds being completed last year, they didn’t staff them for the best part of 12 months while patients waited for urgent care and ambulances ramped with sick people outside.
“The budget is re-announcing beds they have supposedly already delivered!
“According to questions in Parliament, Stage 3 of Sunshine Coast University Hospital (SCUH) was completed on 30 June 2021*
“Yet, the budget announced yesterday that completion of stage 3 is still to be completed.
“𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱?
“𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙂𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙, 𝙌𝙪𝙚𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧.”
– ENDS –
*Reference to QON 1023: https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/tableoffice/questionsanswers/2021/1023-2021.pdf
