System all clogged up
“SICK” people rocking up to the emergency departments at Gold Coast public hospitals are full of crap.
Of the 10,000 minor conditions treated by emergency doctors at Gold Coast University and Robina hospitals in the 2015-16 financial year, 136 were for constipation.
Another 247 people had stuff stuck in their noses or ears and 83 idiots wanted medical certificates. Five even wanted their pimples sorted.
The number of people who presented for conditions that could have been treated by a GP increased slightly from 9716 in 2014-15.
Gold Coast University Hospital emergency physician Dr Melissa McGrath said the high number of presentations for minor conditions clogged up the system and placed unnecessary pressure on experts to treat real emergencies.
“It ties up our departments by having these sorts of things,” she said. “Things like prescriptions, medical certifi- cates … clogging up the emergency department.
“Some things like things in nostrils and ears, they do need to come to us because we need to consult an ear nose and throat surgeon … but by and large I think the community is getting it.
“A lot of the time people sometimes need reassurance.”
Dr McGrath said the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service was coping with demand but it was important to reinforce that for minor medical problems, the public should be visiting GPs and, where appropriate, after-hours doctors.
“It’s been a negligible jump and the main jump has been in our really sick patients in category one and two,” he said. “In the old hospital we were seeing two or three a day. We’re now seeing six or seven acute presentations or traumas.
“I think the message is getting through that for smaller things, they can go to the GP.
“If anyone is concerned, unwell or distressed they must come and see us and we can … put them to where they should go.”
Dr McGrath said the Gold Coast was unique in its demand for emergency services during summer, when an influx of tourists put extra strain on the health service.
“Our population burgeons during the summer months because it’s such a popular place for holiday-makers,” she said.