Man’s ‘crazy’ wait time for operation

FOR more than two years, Dalby man Greshen Murphy has been waiting for surgery to repair nerve damage from a cancer operation.

“I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in July 2017; I had my prostate removed in early November that same year,’’ he said.

“After several follow-ups with the doctors after the surgery for the removal, I was diagnosed with erectile dysfunction caused by damage to the nerve endings during surgery.

“I was referred to the Princess Alexandra Hospital to see another specialist urologist – this took almost eight months to obtain an appointment, which was then cancelled for another two months.’’

Mr Murphy, 53, finally saw the specialist last April, and was told he would have to wait up to 18 more months for surgery.

“I was flabbergasted and explained that I have been waiting for so long now,’’ he said. “It’s just crazy – it shouldn’t take this long for an operation to happen.

“This is emotionally draining on myself, as well as my wife.

“It’s disgusting it has taken this long – where is all the money going?’’

An investigation by News Corp has revealed a blowout in public hospital waiting lists, with the number of patients queuing for surgery rising 7 per cent in the past two years to 56,176.

In public hospitals, Queensland Health recruited twice as many pen-pushers than doctors in 2018/19.

Queensland Health hired 415 extra doctors – taking the total to 9945 – while boosting managerial and clerical staff by 765 to 18,911.

An extra 1099 nurses were hired, to total 34,153.

Australian Medical Association president Dr Tony Bartone said there was no shortage of surgeons.

“Beds are the issue,’’ he said. “It’s more of an infrastructure issue than a workforce issue.

“State and federal governments will tell you they are spending more than ever before, and so they should because the population is growing and ageing.’’

Spending on public hospitals in Queensland, per person, has soared by two-thirds in a decade, from $1671 per person in 2008/09 to $2803 in 2017/18.

But capacity has remained at 2.5 beds for every 1000 people.

Picture: David Martinelli LONG WAIT: Dalby resident Greshen Murphy on a waiting list for surgery to rectify a complication arising from surgery for prostate cancer.