Springborg Challenged To Earn His Pay

Media Release.

Shadow Health Minister Jo-Ann Miller says the fiction that the Newman Government is somehow not responsible for regional hospital and health board decisions must end.

“Like all health board decisions, the sacking of 25 nursing staff at Brisbane’s Prince Charles Hospital and moves to cut hospital services at Moura are LNP government decisions, pure and simple,” Mrs Miller said.

“Since being sworn in back in March 2012 Lawrence Springborg has done nothing to earn his hefty ministerial pay packet of $6000 a week.

“He has become the Minister for Health Cuts and Closures by the way he hides behind the regional boards and pretends they exist on another planet and their decisions have nothing to do with him.

“We have seen this week how he has failed to stop ambulance ramping and patient bypassing at major hospitals.

“We have also seen how he plays politics by claiming a $600 million or 21% rise in federal health funding to Queensland over four years to 2015-16 — from $3.1 billion to $3.7 billion — is somehow a ‘cut’.”

Mrs Miller said despite Mr Springborg failing to meet his responsibilities, there was a direct and unbroken chain of command between the Minister and regional health boards.

“I ask Mr Springborg to make a belated New Year’s resolution and admit that when a regional health board makes a decision it is an LNP government decision and he is directly responsible,” she said.

“He is responsible for treating the Moura community with contempt by not being upfront about cuts to hospital services.

“He is responsible for the 25 nursing positions going from Prince Charles Hospital and the plans to combine five wards into three and lose four of an existing 104 surgical beds at this highly specialised hospital.

“But whenever regional health boards sack frontline workers or cut services the Minister runs for cover and tries to pretend he has no responsibility.

“Mr Springborg’s amateur dramatics must end. He should start by fronting the postponed community meeting at Moura — along with local MP Jeff Seeney — and take responsibility for the closure of hospital services in the town.

“Mr Springborg should also front Thursday’s meeting at Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane and explain why 25 nurses are being sacked, wards are closing and bed are being lost.

“He has been well paid as a Minister since March and the time is long overdue for him to behave like one and start earning his salary,” Mrs Miller said.

Springborg Sprung On Ramping

Shadow Health Minister Jo-Ann Miller says the continuation of ambulance ramping and patient bypass at major public hospitals shows the Newman Government is starting 2013 by continuing to break promises and double-cross Queenslanders.

“The only thing the LNP government has bypassed is the truth,” Mrs Miller said.

"It's clear the word of the Minister for Health Cuts and Closures, Lawrence Springborg, who said ramping and bypassing would end by January 1 is worthless and is just political spin.

"Ambulance paramedics have revealed the truth that bypassing is still happening 'on a daily basis'.”

In August 2012 when announcing his plan to stop ramping and hospital bypass Mr Springborg stated: “… simply going on bypass, which is effectively diverting a patient to another facility, is an unacceptable mechanism for managing demand on emergency departments.”

“Yet this is exactly what the Minister has done. He is trying to claim credit for a system that is still doing what he said should not be done,” Mrs Miller said.

“Typically, the only difference is the Minister has passed the buck on bypass decisions to the Queensland Ambulance Service.”

She said the Minister’s claim in October that the Metro South Hospital and Health Region stopped ramping three months before the January deadline was proved wrong by statistics on patient off-stretcher time (POST) — a measure of ramping showing how many patients were transferred off a stretcher within 30 minutes of ambulances arriving at hospital.

“The latest POST figures show more than one-third of patients at QE II Hospital did not meet his goal of having patients off stretchers within 30 minutes.

“Almost one-quarter of patients at the Redlands Hospital did not meet the 30-minute target as did more than 10% of patients at PA Hospital and almost 30% at Logan Hospital.”

Mrs Miller said Mr Springborg was out of his depth in the health portfolio.

"If the Premier had any authority in the badly fractured LNP he would sack Mr Springborg and replace him with someone who will actually do the job and tell the truth,” she said.

“The reason the Premier won’t move against him is it would likely provoke a leadership challenge by Mr Springborg in the current climate of bitter infighting within the LNP.

Mr Springborg’s only achievements so far have been to sack frontline staff; cut frontline services; scare elderly nursing home residents and their families; outsource essential services; and pass the buck for all his decisions to regional health boards.

"He has made an art form out of hiding from his direct ministerial responsibilities by blaming others for the consequences of his and his government's decisions.

"His only other skill has been to indulge in dishonest Canberra-bashing by misleading Queenslanders with claims that a $600 million rise in federal health funding to our state over four years to 2015-16 is a 'cut',” Mrs Miller said.