Satellite Hospital Another misleading wording from this ALP government, its just a doctors day clinic for people.
Transcript: AMA Queensland President, Dr Maria Boulton, 4BC Radio Brisbane, Breakfast with Peter Fegan, Friday 5 January 2024
Satellite hospitals urgently need transparency around servicesDR MARIA BOULTON:We've always called for transparency when it comes to these satellite hospitals as to what services they actually provide. But they're not - I'm a GP and we work out of general practices and medical centres, and are they really medical centres? I don't know either. That's what patients need, they just need that transparency to understand what exact services they can expect when they turn up at the door. You just don't want patients turning up in the wrong place. If they need serious emergency services, they need to turn up to a proper hospital.
PETER FEGAN:I don't know what the Government thinks they're gaining here, because what it seems to me on the outside, doc, is that they're calling them hospitals so politically they can spruik, as this is election year, they can spruik come October. They can say, David Crisafulli has done nothing, we've built hospitals, we've built hospitals in Kallangur, we've built them in Redcliffe, we've done all these things. Well, you haven't, you haven't built hospitals. They don't offer emergency surgery, overnight stays, no 24-hour nurse care and there's no emergency department. So, it's a bit rich calling them hospitals. For people out there listening this morning, doc, what would be your advice to them? I know there's been no transparency between the Government and yourself, AMA Queensland, in terms of what they offer, but what would be your advice to people listening to this right now that go, well, I've got a problem, do I go to hospital or do I go to a satellite hospital? I mean, it's confusing.
DR MARIA BOULTON:It is. It's really difficult because they all offer different services. I know that some do have dialysis chairs, for example, which are quite welcome in those communities. But what I would advise is for the Government to provide more transparency to the community. I would advise people to follow their gut. At the end of the day, if it's an emergency, go to an emergency department, and if it's not an emergency, get in to see your GP. The entire health system is under strain at the moment and we're keenly waiting on those 3,000 new proper hospital beds that the Government has announced. I think they will make a real difference, but it's really difficult when you have people confused. Don't forget that your GP can provide all sorts of services from wounds to lacerations to respiratory symptoms, for example, that's where your GP comes in.
Wouldn't it be great if the Federal Government jumped in and subsidised your Medicare rebate by more, because we know that they're falling behind and that's also part of the reason why people are sometimes reluctant to visit their GP. We know that GPs provide a vast amount of services, but look, it is confusing, and I honestly wish it was clearer for everyone.
