A rural emergency and palliative care hospital and medical centre in the Western Downs region of Queensland was left without any doctors for five days, despite normally being staffed by three.
Darling Downs Health was made aware of a staff shortage at Tara hospital on 6 April that meant between 7 April to 11, ambulances with non-urgent cases were diverted to Chinchilla hospital, about 50 minutes away.
Retrieval Services Queensland, which coordinates aeromedical retrieval and inter-hospital transport and the ambulance service coordinated care for urgent cases. Some of these patients were diverted to Toowoomba hospital, 175km away, and Dalby hospital, 90km away.
Tara hospital has eight available beds and offers emergency care, medical, palliative care and clinics, including outpatients services. According to the 2021 census, Tara, 250km west of Brisbane, is home to 3,851 people, 8.6% of those who identify as Aboriginal.
Darling Downs Health executive director for rural health, Dr Christopher Cowling, said the district only knew of the imminent staff shortage one day prior.
“We absolutely acknowledge that having a doctor available in any town is vital, which is why we took immediate action as soon as we were aware of an imminent staff shortage in Tara earlier this month,” he said.
“As we only knew about this one day prior to the temporary bypass, it’s a real testament to the swift planning that took place in the face of unpredictable staff shortages. There are now a minimum of three doctors in Tara to provide residents with the care they deserve in both the hospital and medical centre.”
The Tara Emergency Centre remained open during the five-day diversion, with patients assessed and cared for by nursing staff skilled in emergency cases, which is usual practice. No one was turned away.
“To ensure the most appropriate clinical care, some patients were transferred to other hospitals during this time due to the serious nature of their injuries which is not unusual for our regional hospitals as they operate as a network,” Cowling said.
“Health jurisdictions across the world are facing significant staffing challenges and Queensland is no exception.”
Guardian Australia understands that from 12 April to 14 April, a rural generalist registrar from a nearby town provided partial coverage to the hospital before full coverage was in place again from 15 April.
A spokesperson for the Rural Doctors Association of Queensland said for Tara and similar sized towns, the ideal situation is doctors being available 24 hours a day.
“However, there are significant shortages of generalist doctors across rural Queensland and with less than 15% of new graduates entering generalist practice, we don’t see an immediate solution, but we are continuing our advocacy to address some key issues,” she said.
“Nurses in rural areas are true generalist clinicians as well and provide excellent care for rural and remote people in these situations.”
She said Darling Downs Health Service should be congratulated for managing the situation quickly. But she said “We desperately need more support for rural people to access GPs and certainty that primary care can be as local as possible”.
“It is a real concern for the wellbeing for communities like Tara because access to GPs ensures improved health outcomes,” she said.
“It is a bigger problem than just the Darling Downs Health Service. Currently this is impacting communities right across Queensland. That is why Rural Doctors Association of Queensland is persisting in calling on both levels of government to resolve these gaps in care, they must act with urgency.”
