Personality clash closes N Qld cardiac unit
Queensland Health says it has been forced to immediately close the cardiac surgical unit at the Townsville Hospital in north Queensland because of staffing problems.
The district executive director of medical services, Dr Andrew Johnson, says four surgeons and two trainees have been stood down on full pay while their behaviour is investigated.
The 37 patients now on waiting lists will have to travel to Brisbane to undergo heart surgery.
Dr Johnson says after several years of allegations and reviews it is evident the cardiac team can not work together.
“We have tried everything – we’ve tried mediation on multiple occasions, we’ve tried issuing directives, we’ve tried doing investigations, we’ve tried reviews, we’ve tried reports, we’ve tried reorganisations,” he said.
“The reality is we have not been able to fix this with the people who are in the service at the moment.”
State focus
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) says it could take up to 12 months for surgery unit to re-open.
The AMA’s Queensland president Dr Ross Cartmill says he supports the closure under the circumstances, but wants a state-wide review of cardiac services.
“The problem has been recognised, the decision’s been made to shut it down, and in the short-term the AMA would support that short-term decision,” he said.
“But I emphasise short-term – I think we do need to be looking at the whole service across the state and building it up again, but building it on a state-wide basis.”
Leave a Reply