Long Hospital Waiting Times – Solved!

A new concept in nursing has arrived in Mackay and it promises to help residents receive the healthcare they need in the comfort of their own homes, enabling them to also avoid lengthy waiting times along the way.

Data has revealed that Mackay Hospitals are clogged with too many patients waiting for appointments.

Earlier this month, Queensland Health said the waiting-list-for-the-waiting-list at Mackay Hospitals increased by 16 per cent in the past 12 months for the December quarter.

Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli said that “better resourcing, improving triaging, real time data monitoring and giving power back to local doctors and nurses to run our hospitals” could provide a solution.

“Behind these 9332 patients waiting for their specialist appointment are stories of Mackay patients desperate for a better quality of life,” Mr Crisafulli said.

A real-time solution is now on its way and, while it cannot replace the need for specialist appointments, it is hoped that it will take some of the pressure off by providing services such as complex bowel care, urinary catheters, wound management, and subcutaneous injections.

Nurse Next Door Home Care Services is operated by local residents Sarah Ryan and George Blackie who wanted to find a solution to support the local community by providing care and nursing services in people’s homes.

“While working in the disability sector, I’d often hear stories from clients about how hard it was to get the proper care they needed and going to hospital was the last thing they wanted to do because of how limited the resources were,” said Sarah.

“We wanted to find a way to help the vulnerable people in our community access healthcare from the comfort and safety of their own homes, on their own terms.” added George.

Almost 20 per cent of the Mackay population is either over the age of 65 or living with a disability.

Nurse Next Door aims to help people continue living independently at home, with the care they need, and to continue to participate in the community safely, with an added personal touch of compassion from locally employed caregivers and nurses.

“We are focused on getting Mackay’s residents that require some level of care back to doing the things they love, and we want each and every one of our residents to live their best lives,” explained Sarah.

The couple hope their services will help to address the growing demand on the healthcare system for Queensland’s ageing and special needs population.

‍