Patient’s vax proof worry

DISTRESSED and displaying chest pain as she arrived at the Cairns Hospital emergency department, a former government adviser said she was shocked when she was refused entry until she showed proof of vaccination.

Cairns single mother Jennelle Jeffery on New Year’s Eve reported experiencing excruciating chest pain, and arrived at the emergency department about 10pm.

Ms Jeffery said that due to the pain she was barely able to speak or stand upright, but was stopped by security from entering the hospital until she showed her proof of vaccination.

Unfortunately for Ms Jeffery, who was double vaccinated, her developing health condition in the days before meant she had not had an opportunity to load her certificate into her old, breaking down phone.

“I leaned forward a couple of times just to breathe and he (the security guard) sits casually back saying they won’t see you without proof,” she said.

“So I try go into MyGov to show proof which he tells me might not suffice. In more pain I sit in the chair hardly able to read the thing.

“I though I was going to die then and there.

“Once I bring it up and show him he doesn’t even check it really, seriously, and we are allowed in.”

Ms Jeffery said once inside, she could not fault the efforts of health staff, who diagnosed her condition as pneumonia.

The state government’s restrictions for unvaccinated people include “vulnerable settings” such as hospitals, but the restrictions do not apply for patients requiring urgent treatment.

“They shouldn’t even be asking for proof. I clearly needed help,” she said.

Now recovering, Ms Jeffery said she had been left traumatised by the event and feared the outcome of her experience or another patient in similar circumstances could have ended horribly.

“Maybe it was a communication breakdown between the hospital and security, I just don’t know,” she said.

“But I’m worried about an unvaccinated person showing up with severe chest pain.

“Or what happens if someone forgets their proof. Believe me, your handbag and phone is not on your mind in the midst of a medical emergency.”

A Cairns Hospital and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service spokesman said: “No person presenting to a Queensland Health hospital in an emergency will be denied medical care. This care is available to all patients regardless of their vaccination status.

“The entry requirements for all Queensland’s public hospitals contained within the Hospital Entry Direction (No.7) are about visitors to vulnerable facilities, and does not apply to patients of the hospital.”