Media release
Federal Member for Fairfax, Clive Palmer, said today that it was a sad indictment on the Newman Government that cancer patients at Nambour Hospital faced amongst the longest waiting times for surgery in Queensland.
Mr Palmer was responding to a new report by the National Health Performance Authority which gave Nambour Hospital a poor review, with just 79% of its surgeries for breast cancer completed within 30 days.
The hospital by hospital comparison showed that 90% of planned operations for malignant breast, bowel and lung cancer surgery were taking place within 30 days, with Nambour, Hervey Bay and Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra hospitals falling short of the mark in Queensland.
“This is a damning indictment on the Newman Government and where its proprietaries lie with the health of all Queenslanders,’’ Mr Palmer said.
“It is extremely concerning that Nambour has been singled out as one of the slowest hospitals in Queensland when it comes to performing crucial cancer surgery.
“I have nothing but the utmost respect for the staff at Nambour Hospital who do an outstanding job with the resources available to them, however they are getting little help from the State Government which clearly rates the health of Sunshine Coast residents as a low priority.
“Newman has shown huge disregard for Queenslanders with the widespread sackings of front line health staff and the selling off of hospital services to reduce debt.
“If the Palmer United Party is successful at the next Queensland election, fixing the State’s ailing health system will be the highest priority,’’ he said.
ENDS