Queensland Health Minister Pressures Commonwealth Over 'Stranded' Hospital Patients

Queensland's health minister has again heaped pressure on the Commonwealth to address rising numbers of patients stuck in hospital beds.

There were more than 1,400 people in the state's hospitals in April waiting to be discharged to an aged care or NDIS placement, around three-quarters of those older patients.

That was up from just over 1,100 a year earlier. It's estimated bed block costs Queensland more than $3 million daily.

Health minister Tim Nicholls said funding for the cohort, labelled 'stranded Australians', rested with the federal government.

"Queenslanders deserve a health system that delivers, not one that leaves people stuck in a hospital bed, stranded, stuck and waiting for support.

"We're meeting our responsibilities. It's time for the Commonwealth to meet their responsibilities, and until they do, we'll continue to hold them accountable.

"It is about the dignity of older Australians. It is about ensuring that they receive the respect and the care that they deserve towards the latter end of their lives."

The stoush comes ahead of a meeting of health ministers on Friday, with the issue expected to be at the forefront of discussion.

A spokesperson for the Commonwealth said it had attempted to provide a stopgap solution to bed block earlier this year.

"During hospital funding negotiations, the states told us older long-stay patients were the biggest issue when it came to the hospital system.

"In response, our government proposed a ringfenced $2 billion for aged care services as part of the agreement, but states and territories rejected that offer, instead choosing to direct that funding into their hospital systems."

Urgent call for funding uplift

Australian Medical Association Queensland president, associate professor Erica Gannon, said bed block had a massive ripple effect across the health system and called on the Commonwealth to do more.

"There is a flow-on effect to those patients who are needing to come in through frontline services in our emergency departments.

"That will impact on ramping, and the care needs of ongoing ED patients."

She added there was a health impact for those people stuck in hospitals.

"It is certainly distressing for those patients who are in hospital for a prolonged period of time.

"It can be a noisy environment and distressing for those dementia patients, not to mention their exposure to hospital-acquired infections."

'Dismal' figures

Mr Nicholls claimed Queensland was "ground zero" for stranded Australians.

In one case, he said a patient had been in hospital awaiting discharge for more than 1,000 days, and another 15 people were stranded for more than 700 days.

Of particular concern was a net increase of just 26 residential aged care beds to the system in the year to June 2025 in Queensland.

"This is a dismal amount. Only a 0.06 per cent actual increase in the number of beds available in Queensland," Mr Nicholls stated.

Shadow Attorney-General Meaghan Scanlon said while she would encourage the Commonwealth to continue investing in aged care, it should be in partnership with the state government.

"They've delayed hospitals all across the state. They need to take responsibility as well.

"At the moment, they're prioritising the construction of a stadium over hospitals."