CURE FOR RAMPING MUST BE FOUND

Good health care is the cornerstone of any community and is always a No.1 election hot button. Across Queensland the issue of ramping at major hospitals has escalated and here in the Far North we know all about the impacts as well, or better than, anyone else.

The fact a band of medical professionals met in an ambulance ramping roundtable meeting shows how high the level of frustration has reached.

The point of the meeting was to construct a five-year ED action plan with the essential end goal being patients waiting less for care.

Some wait more than five hours. The Cairns Post has published photos highlighting just how congested ramping is getting at our city hospital.

Ambulances bust beyond the designated carpark on to verges and across the busy road on to the Esplanade.

Treasurer Cameron Dick announced in his Tuesday budget a $2bn hospital building fund, but professionals rightly point out that the real cure to this problem is people – people caring for people.

Our population is growing but so too is the number of older Australians.

In the Far North, we service residents all the way into the Cape and Torres Strait as well as the many visitors who come here to enjoy a holiday.

Add to this the growing cost of private health care forcing more into the public system and you understand why our medical professionals are worried.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Yvette D’Ath has assured us the Cairns University Hospital project is “completely locked in” despite only $1m being earmarked for the land acquisition next financial year.

The State Government can ill afford to play games in health.

Queenslanders have no appetite for that.