By Janelle Miles

More than 8 per cent of Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service (CQHHS) workers have failed to comply with the COVID-19 vaccination mandate, forcing cuts to surgical, medical and mental health beds.

Queensland Health data obtained by the ABC shows that, of the 4,620 employees who work for the service — which runs Rockhampton, Gladstone, Biloela and Emerald hospitals — 385 workers have provided no evidence of having two COVID-19 vaccine shots and are not on leave.

About 136 of them have requested an exemption from the mandate but Queensland Health director-general John Wakefield has made it clear anyone who has not been vaccinated against COVID-19 will not be allowed to work in a public health facility.

An email from the CQHHS Rockhampton business unit executive director Kerrie-Anne Frakes to staff said the mandate would have a “temporary operational impact to ensure that we are able to safely maintain inpatient services”.

“There has been a great deal of work done by our team leaders, managers and directors this past week to ensure safe service continuity,” the email said.

“We don’t, however, believe that these changes will impact the level of care to be provided to our community nor impact the safety of our staff,” she said.

Less than 4pc of staff statewide failed to comply

Of the 108,000-strong Queensland Hospital and Health Services workforce, 3,830 — or 3.54 per cent — have provided no evidence of a COVID-19 vaccination and are not on leave.

Workers who are on leave do not need to become compliant with the vaccination mandate until they are due to return to work.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said this week about 4,000 Queensland Health workers who had not been vaccinated against COVID-19 would be sent show-cause notices and be suspended on full pay.

South West Hospital and Health Service (SWHHS) — which takes in the Roma, St George, Cunnamulla and Charleville hospitals — has the highest percentage of non-complying employees, with 10.78 per cent of the workforce, or 110 employees, out of a total of 1,020.

Other Hospital and Health Services with high rates of workers not vaccinated against COVID-19 include Central West (6.2 per cent), Sunshine Coast (5.33 per cent), Mackay (5.07 per cent), Wide Bay (4.42 per cent) and Gold Coast (4.07 per cent).

In terms of sheer numbers, 561 employees at the Metro North Hospital and Health Service (MNHHS) — which includes the Royal Brisbane and Women’s, The Prince Charles, Redcliffe, Caboolture and Kilcoy hospitals — have failed to comply with the health directive, which equates to 2.45 per cent of the workforce.

The proportion of employees at the Metro South Hospital and Health Service who have failed to comply is slightly higher, at 2.56 per cent (459 workers).

On the Gold Coast, 488 workers have provided no evidence of COVID-19 vaccination and are not currently on leave.

Unvaccinated health staff suspended with pay for one week

Deputy Chief Health Officer Peter Aitken said Queensland Health was in the process of contacting unvaccinated health staff.

“All those staff are in the process of being contacted and some of those are in the exemption process and are getting worked through,” he said.

He said workers who put in exemption requests and had not been contacted yet would receive full pay for this week.

“After that, the process will continue and it will be individually based, depending on their circumstances,” Dr Aitken said.

But, he warned, this arrangement was for one week only.

“It is only for a week so I would encourage them to follow up,” Dr Aitken said.