Rocky to receive PET scanner and cardiac unit after cabinet health talk

Regional and rural healthcare was a big ticket item for local residents who attended Wednesday evening's community town hall event at CQUniversity.

Retired GP Bill Lang started off the healthcare discussion by indicating he'd left the profession not only due to reaching retirement age, but also because he became overwhelmed by bureaucracy.

"I became very disillusioned with the increasing amount of bureaucracy that we see in the medical area.

"I believe that a lot of doctors of my age group are feeling the same, obviously in private general practices federal government is more responsible for that, but in the state government funding system, the same is true."

Mr Miles said the health minister was working hard to make sure front line staff were supported and had the resources needed to do their jobs, but it was a large organisation and bureaucracy was inevitable.

He also spoke about the lack of GPs and primary health carers and said was the biggest healthcare problem for the region they were trying to address.

He indicated since they had come into government in 2015, the number health professionals in CQ had increased by 50 per cent.

Queensland Health Minister Shannon Fentiman further spoke on what had been done to try and secure more healthcare professionals to the regions, particularity specialists.

"I met today with a really great group of front line workers at the hospital and we're consulting on a new workforce strategy to set us up here in CQ, but also right across the state for the next decade.

"Training local kids to be the next generation of doctors are exactly the kinds of solutions we are working on.

"We now have nursing for free at TAFE, we're embarking on a huge campaign to talk to young kids in high school about staying here and having what is a fantastic career in health," she said.

An online question was posed to the minister about access to specialists for CQ families who may not be able to afford to travel to Brisbane for treatment.

The minister mentioned the Rockhampton Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, opened in December last year by the Albanese Government, aimed at relieving pressure on the local hospital.

She also mentioned the increase to the patient travel subsidy scheme in last year's budget as a means to assist rural or regional families accessing services or specialists out of area.

"We know how important it is to bring these services to CQ, but if you do need to travel, you do need to see a specialist, we also massively increased the patient travel subsidy scheme in last year's budget.

"It was the biggest boost to the subsidy in many many years.

"Other feedback I got was that sometimes filling out the forms can be a little bureaucratic so we're also reviewing everything to make it easier to apply for that subsidy," she said.

Another online question came through questioning why Rockhampton was still without a PET scanner, with patients travelling to Mackay or Bundaberg to access the technology.

Doctors use PET scanners to find tumours, diagnose heart disease, brain disorders and other conditions.

This morning the Miles government announced a scanner would be delivered to Rockhampton in 2027, committing an an initial investment of $7.8 million towards it.

The scanner will require extensive infrastructure including lead shielding bunkers and a highly skilled workforce of nuclear medicine technicians once complete.

Also announced today was $28.5 million for a cardiac hybrid theatre, aimed at reducing patient travel to Brisbane by at least 80 per cent.

The project will create 78 full-time jobs during construction and is set to be completed in late 2025.

"Having met with the hospital's dedicated cardiac ward staff, I recognise their unwavering commitment to exceptional patient care," Ms Fentiman said.

"This state-of-the-art theatre will deliver better health outcomes for people in CQ without having to travel to Brisbane.

"And while CQ offers a broad range of medical imaging services, this almost $8 million investment in a PET scanner will boost scanning services available in Rockhampton.

"This future investment will eliminate the need for many locals to travel long distances to access these crucial scans," she said.

If you would like to share your story about how the construction of the cardiac unit or PET scanner will personally impact you, please email ellouise.bailey@queenslandcountrylife.com.au or call 0447 477 399