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  • Coroner findings spark call for Indigenous health fix

    Author: AAP

Days after a coroner's damning findings, the Queensland opposition has demanded the state government explain how it will fix health care in Indigenous communities.

Liberal Opposition leader David Crisafulli said the government had failed to deliver basic health care to some communities.

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He demanded the government outline a plan after coroner Nerida Wilson last week handed down her findings into the deaths of three Indigenous women with rheumatic heart disease.

An inquest was held after Yvette Booth, Adele Sandy and Shakaya George died within 18 months of each other at Doomadgee.

Ms Wilson found health systems in the remote Queensland community had failed.

Rheumatic heart disease was preventable and almost exclusively a disease of poverty and social disadvantage, Ms Wilson said.

Indigenous Queenslanders have a prevalence of acquiring the disease at a rate of 582 times higher than non-Indigenous people living in the same state.

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman last week said the government would accept all the coroner's recommendations and work with the Doomadgee community to respond appropriately.

But Mr Crisafulli on Monday demanded more be done.

"It's now been three days since the coroner has handed down findings ... we want the government to acknowledge how bad the situation is," he said.

"We want an acknowledgement that rheumatic heart disease should be eradicated across this state."

Mr Crisafulli wanted the government to conduct a full review of their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Capability Framework 2010-2033, saying it had failed to execute it.

He demanded the government publicly release the implementation schedule and completion dates of the coroner's recommendations.

He also called for an independent review of the Queensland government's $7.3 million Ending Rheumatic Heart Disease: Queensland First Nations Strategy 2021-2024 plan.

Days before the inquest findings, Mr Crisafulli called for an independent review of Cape Tribulation and Torres Strait health services following a meeting last week with First Nations community leaders.

"The Health Minister must front up and detail a plan to address the widespread chaos and crisis engulfing the Indigenous health care system," he said.

Last month a state audit found Queensland's Indigenous people have a life expectancy up to 7.8 years shorter than average and the health system will likely miss a 2031 target to close the gap.

It also found Queensland Health could not demonstrate how its 23-year framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders had improved culturally appropriate care since it was launched in 2010.

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