Queensland Health has fallen behind on their own target of implementing a Falls Prevention Pilot Program in Bundaberg.
Member for Burnett Stephen Bennett has raised the alarm after patients were unable to access the service.
Mr Bennett tabled a Question on Notice to the Minister for Health and Ambulance Services yesterday.
Can the Minister advise 1/ why the Falls Prevention pilot programme at the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service (WBHHS), due to commence in January 2023, has been delayed; and 2/ when the Falls Prevention pilot programme will commence in this regional area with one of the highest concentration of elderly residents?
Mr Bennett said the delay of this program is yet another example of the Palaszczuk Government’s failure to implement vital health measures in regional Queensland.
“We’re hearing that this vital program was supposed to be up and running by early 2023,” said Mr Bennett.
“We’re well into May and despite it being touted as a current program by the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service, patients are being turned away. *
“Falls are Australia’s number one cause of injury hospitalisation and death. **
“They represent 42% of injury hospitalisations and 40% of injury deaths.
“It goes without saying how important the implementation of this program would be in Bundaberg.
“The Wide Bay has an aging population with around 26% of people aged over 65.
“This is already significantly higher than the state average of 15% and is predicted to soon to be 33% of the Wide Bay population.
“The Falls Prevention Pilot Program needs to be rolled out in Bundaberg as a matter of urgency.”
The lack of a Falls Prevention Pilot Program was brought to Mr Bennett’s attention by Bruce Worthington who was unable to access the program for his 90-year-old mother.
“My mother recently experienced a fall in her home and the responses to her fall were inadequate,” said Mr Worthington.
“Following her fall we discovered there was no falls prevention program in Bundaberg.
“We were told the implementation of the program was delayed due to ‘red tape blockage’.
“This program has been available in Hervey Bay since 2021.
“The lack of equitable access across the Wide Bay Region to this preventative program will impact not only my mother but all persons seeking falls prevention within the Bundaberg community.”
** https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/injury/falls
10/05/2023
ENDS.