News
10 June, 2025
Waiting is a genuine pain
Queensland’s public health system is leaving patients in dangerous limbo, with critically ill individuals waiting up to 451 days for specialist consultations at Caboolture Hospital — nearly five times the recommended 90-day treatment window.
Seventy-eight-year-old Barry Wilson’s harrowing experience highlights a systemic breakdown, where patients with serious medical conditions are left suffering while bureaucracy stalls their urgent care. Mr Wilson, who battles restless leg syndrome that causes dangerous micro-sleeps while driving, was told he was 100th in line for a neurology appointment at Caboolture Hospital — with the longest-waiting patient enduring 451 days without treatment. “If you’re not getting good sleep, you’re getting micro-sleeps while driving,” Mr Wilson said. “That’s not just an inconvenience — it’s a serious safety risk.”
After exhausting multiple channels — contacting the Health Ombudsman, patient liaison officers and the state health minister — Wilson remains sceptical of the system. “I wrote to the minister and didn’t even get a proper response. Is the problem with hospital administration, the health department, or parliament? Nobody will tell me.”
His concerns follow the Queensland Audit Office’s recent revelation that Queensland Health missed time-related targets for outpatient appointments for specialists in the two most urgent categories in 2023/24. It also found the percentage of outpatients seen within clinically recommended times declined across all three urgency categories in 2022/23.
“451 days for a 90-day wait. That’s not healthcare — that’s a breakdown of the system,” Wilson said.
A spokesman for the Minister for Health and Ambulance Services, Tim Nicholls, blamed the former Labor government for the ballooning outpatient waitlist. “The Crisafulli Government is investing in the health workforce and infrastructure to deliver easier access to health services for all Queenslanders,” he said.
“Metro North Health continues to experience high demand for services and acknowledges some neurology patients at Caboolture Hospital are waiting longer than recommended.”
These extended wait times reflect a growing patient cohort with increasingly complex referrals. Metro North Health said it has introduced strategies to manage the delays, including pre-ordering EEGs (electroencephalograms) and imaging before patient appointments to minimise return visits, and diverting low-risk patients to the general medicine stream.
