Community & Business
21 February, 2025
Hospitals’ maternity services at risk
MAREEBA Hospital was one of eight facilities in regional and rural Queensland that had to send birthing mothers to larger facilities because of staff shortages, and it and Atherton Hospital were at risk of temporary closures, according to a new review by the state government.
The critical assessment into regional maternity services from July 2023 to January 2025 found workforce shortages rose to between 11.5% and 17.91% for key maternity professions across regional Queensland.
A statement from Premier David Crisafulli said the report identified staffing vacancies of up to 14.2% in obstetrics, 17.9% in anaesthetics, and 11.5% in midwifery, with some facilities experiencing vacancy rates far above this.
“The lack of skilled maternity staff had led to rural hospitals sending birthing mothers to larger facilities, often hundreds of kilometres away,” the statement said.
The assessment also considered facilities most at risk of temporary closure of birthing services resulting from workforce shortages, which included both Mareeba and Atherton Hospitals. They are classified as Level 3 of the Clinical Services Capability Framework (CSCF) Maternity Module which reported a gap of 9.4FTE or 14.2% vacancy rate.
Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service acting chief executive Janelle Matic said planned births at Mareeba Hospital were “occasionally diverted to Cairns Hospital or Atherton Hospital for short periods due to obstetric medical staff being on unexpected sick leave or fatigue leave”.
“During these periods, women presenting to Mareeba Hospital for birthing are assessed, and referred to either Cairns Hospital or Atherton Hospital if required,” Ms Matic said.
“Women with an expected due date within the seven days of the reduced service period, are notified of these brief service reductions.”
However, the hospital was “pleased to report that Mareeba Hospital has recruited two more part-time obstetricians who will commence this month”.
