The Queensland Government is providing $30 million in extra funds to tackle the waiting list for ear, nose and throat (ENT) problems.
Health Minister Cameron Dick said the money would be allocated from existing funding pools to provide more specialist appointments.
Mr Dick said many patients had been on the waiting list for more than two years.
“This $30 million will treat 14,000 Queenslanders – it’s a very significant investment – that’s almost half of everyone in Queensland waiting for an ENT treatment,” he said.
Some of the funding would go to Logan Hospital, south of Brisbane, to set up a clinic where doctors, audiologists, speech therapists and vestibular physiotherapists would work together to ensure patients received appropriate treatment sooner.
Dr Bernard Whitfield, the director of ENT and head and neck surgery at Logan Hospital, said GPs would also be trained in specialist ENT skills.
“Many of the referrals that come into the hospital system could adequately be dealt with by the family practitioner in a much more expedient way, if that practitioner had the relevant skills,” he said.
“We aim to train two general practitioners on the GP registrar program every six months.
“They will then go back to their home general practice and carry out a lot of the interventions that hitherto could only be available in hospital.”