Maternity services at two Queensland regional hospitals were under threat last year as the Health Department struggled to find staff amid a COVID-19 wave, freedom of information documents reveal.
Email correspondence obtained by the state opposition under FOI laws details efforts to find obstetrics staff for the city of Gladstone, which went on bypass in July 2022.
Attempts to procure staff from locum agencies, Mater Hospital and the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital were unsuccessful, according to an email dated July 8 between the offices of Health Minister Yvette D’Ath and Gladstone MP Glenn Butcher.
“Compounding this was emergent leave in Mackay service, whereby Mater was able to provide some cover, and Metro North (Health Service) provided cover for the week in Mackay,” the email says….