January 29, 2014
Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington has praised staff at Kingaroy Hospital for delivering an “outstanding” result in the hospital’s latest performance results.
More than three times as many patients received elective surgery at the hospital in 2013 than had been originally planned.
And the recent appointment of a new visiting surgeon on top of the on-staff rural generalist surgeon will mean even more surgeries will be able to be performed this year.
The original National Elective Surgery Target for Kingaroy Hospital was 48 surgeries, however 165 were performed in 2013.
“This is an outstanding result and also means that there are no patients waiting longer than clinically recommended for elective surgery across all categories from urgent to routine,” Mrs Frecklington said.
“I commend all staff at Kingaroy Hospital who made this happen as it means that these patients didn’t have to travel away from family and friends to access surgery.”
Mrs Frecklington said the State Government had made a commitment to delivering better services for rural and remote Queenslanders.
She said the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Board had achieved this by funding a rural generalist surgeon for Kingaroy.
Mostly general surgeries, and some obstetrics and gynaecological procedures, are carried out at Kingaroy.
“I’m pleased to say this elective surgery success is set to continue, as the on-staff rural generalist surgeon will soon be assisted by a visiting surgeon, once a fortnight from late January,” she said.
“This will allow more complex surgery to be carried out, which again, is great news for the community.”
* * *
Mrs Frecklington told southburnett.com.au this afternoon that despite the excellent performance results, the need for a new hospital in Kingaroy was still a priority and she was working hard to make it a reality.
She said a new hospital at Kingaroy had been identified as a priority by the Darling Downs and District Health Board, and Health Minister Lawrence Springborg also recognised the need.
However she had not promised – as had been reported elsewhere – that the State Government would commit to a new hospital this year.
* * *
Maybe the need for a new hospital in Kingaroy would not be so great if we could tackle another health problem in the local area.
The State Government’s latest health status report shows that 23 per cent of adults in the South Burnett smoke daily, which according to ABC News is 73 per cent higher than the overall rate for Queensland.
The Cancer Council called the result “alarming”.
