In a disappointing result for those advocating for more services at Beaudesert Hospital, the State Government has rejected a petition for local Peritoneal Dialysis services.
Member for Scenic Rim Jon Krause tabled the 758-signature petition in the Queensland Parliament on 22 June, requesting peritoneal dialysis services and qualified nurse at Beaudesert Hospital.
Related: Dialysis petition garners support
The principal petitioner was Beaudesert resident Col Watson, who lives with kidney disease and is on peritoneal dialysis at home. Mr Watson currently needs his wife Tanya to drive him to Logan Hospital for treatment because there are no peritoneal dialysis services or nurses at Beaudesert Hospital.
In a letter responding to the petition, Acting Health and Ambulance Services Minister Steven Miles said patient numbers do not support the establishment of a local service.
“Currently there is a very small number of patients accessing services at Logan Hospital who would be suitable to undertake their initial (peritoneal dialysis) training and outpatient appointments at Beaudesert Hospital,” he wrote.
“The ratio of peritoneal dialysis clinical nurse resourcing to patients is 1:15, and patient numbers do not support the establishment of a service at Beaudesert Hospital.”
When the Bulletin phoned Mr Watson for comment, he was in Logan Hospital for several days of treatment he said he could have had at Beaudesert if local services were provided.
Mr Watson expressed his disappointment not just for himself but for all of Beaudesert.
“I thought it might have been a steppingstone to get more services in general at Beaudesert Hospital, because we need the hospital up and running at a good level – the town’s growing at a bloody big rate,” he said.
In a letter to petitioners following the rejection, Mr Krause slammed the decision and promised to keep the pressure on.
“The Beaudesert district deserves better. We are resilient, but the constant neglect is unfair and un-Australian. When I see where some funds are spent (and for what purpose) and know that a fraction of that funding would make a big difference in Beaudesert, it makes me angry,” he wrote.
“I will continue to fight for increased staff, medical diagnostic and other services our community needs at the Beaudesert Hospital.”
