Received

Inadequate care at a north Queensland health service contributed to the deaths of three children in the past decade, an investigation into alleged malpractice has found.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath on Friday handed down a report into Mackay Hospital and Health Service ordered last October following complaints from women about complications from caesareans and allegations of patient harm.

The investigation team was tasked with identifying conduct within obstetrics and gynaecology services at the hospital between July 1, 2019 and November 1, 2021.

Ms D'Ath said three cases were identified where inadequate care led to the loss of three children.

"Those three cases span over 10 years," she said.

"No family should ever have to experience the devastation of the loss of a child and certainly not under these circumstances.

"To all the women and families who had been impacted by these failings, I offer my sincerest and unreserved apology.

"Our health system can and must do better."

Ninety six women participated in the investigation, with 84 cases included in the report and 12 still under review.

Women described being disrespected, neglected, left in pain or discharged back to GPs with incomplete resolution of their problems and no adequate follow up.

The report said 26 cases fell below expected medical standards, resulting in personal injury or harm.

The women have been advised of a compensation pathway, the minister said.

Patients who were physically and psychologically injured as a result of the hospital's negligence deserve compensation, Special Counsel Sarah Vallance from Shine Lawyers said.

"The amount of compensation they receive should not be decided through a mysterious extrajudicial process in which Queensland Health has all the control and bargaining power," she said.

"For the Mackay community to regain trust in their health service, it's imperative the compensation pathway is transparent and affords due process to the women involved."

Investigations found multiple examples of substandard clinical care, poor clinical incident monitoring, poor management of safety and quality, complications and clinical deterioration and poor human resource management.

It found examples where the consequences for a number of women were life-altering, yet some were left with unanswered questions.

Ms D'Ath noted some findings were of the incidence of particular injuries during obstetric and gynaecology surgery, with 21 recorded in just over one year.

"The expected incidence of a hospital of the Mackay Base's size would be zero to one per year," she said.

"While structures and processes were put in place and were in place to promote safety and learn from incidents where things went wrong, the structures and processes were not always used appropriately.

"That system level failure enabled poor practice and unprofessional behaviours to flourish."

Liberal National opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates described the failures as catastrophic and said Ms D'Ath should "do the right thing today and resign".

"We saw in the report that nurses and doctors were raising these alarming issues and that they were ignored," Ms Bates said.

"I don't have faith in the Palaszczuk Government to fix the Queensland health crisis and I certainly have no faith in Yvette D'Ath as the health minister."

Deputy Premier Steven Miles dismissed the opposition's calls on Friday, saying Ms D'Ath showed "true leadership" at her press conference.

The health minister has issued a show cause notice to the hospital and health board regarding how they may effectively discharge their duties and obligations and whether any or all board members should be dismissed.

They have until next Friday to respond.

A special advisor to the health service board has been appointed to provide independent oversight of the issues raised.

© AAP 2022

The number of home sellers making a profit has eased as the property market continues its downwards trend.

Loss-making sales grew the fastest in Melbourne and Sydney, according to CoreLogic data, reflecting the sharper downturns in the major cities.

There was a 6.4 per cent increase in homes sold at a loss in Sydney in the June quarter and a 5.3 per cent rise in Melbourne.

Home values in the two cities have fallen by 2.8 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively, during the same period.

"Multiple interest rate hikes have led to a weakening in the home values in Sydney and Melbourne however residential resale results in some cities remain strong with significant gains across almost all resales," CoreLogic's head of research Eliza Own said.

She said high-density city fringe markets were leading the downturn.

"Rising rates may be triggering more sales decisions among investors, contributing to the increase in loss-making unit sales across the city," Ms Owen said.

Interest rates are tipped to keep rising, with both ANZ and Westpac expecting the official cash rate to soar by another 1.00 per cent this year.

Both banks are expecting another 0.50 per cent lift in October, followed by 0.25 percentage point hikes in November and December.

Mortgage holders have endured a cumulative 175 basis points in interest rate hikes since May, causing their monthly repayments to rise by hundreds of dollars.

Another rate hike of 50 basis points would add $760 to monthly repayments - compared to May repayments - on the average $500,000 loan with 25 years left to go, according to an analysis by RateCity.

Successive interest rate hikes are hitting first home owners harder than established mortgage holders, according to Equifax data.

The data showed first home buyers, who were more likely to have bought at the top of the market, were twice as likely to have fallen behind on their home loan repayments than other mortgage holders.

Meanwhile, total private sector credit - or outstanding loans - as measured by the Reserve Bank grew by 9.3 per cent over the year to August.

This was the fastest pace in almost 14 years.

CommSec's Ryan Felsman said the strong growth reflected expansionary policy settings during the pandemic that prompted households and businesses to increase their borrowings.

However, housing credit eased off in August as rising interest rates started to take effect.

Mr Felsman expects credit growth to keep slowing as the RBA keeps up its aggressive monetary policy tightening.

Australia's economic troubles are far from over, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has warned.

"It's pretty clear that the international situation is deteriorating," he told the ABC's 7:30 program.

The treasurer said he remained upbeat and optimistic about Australia's outlook, with strong economic indicators, but warned of further economic pain in the near future.

"We've got a lot going for us," Dr Chalmers said.

"But we've got some difficult global conditions to navigate in the meantime.

"It's feeding through to higher inflation and falling real wages and rising interest rates at home and that will have an impact on our own growth prospects in the domestic economy."

Consumers have been warned to brace for higher petrol prices as the fuel excise tax cut expires, and the prospect of elevated gas prices in the long term.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton said the government had failed to reduce energy bills as promised.

"They told the public before the election on 97 occasions that they were going to guarantee a price reduction of $275 in people's power bills - they refuse to mention that figure any day since the election," he said.

© AAP 2022

Inadequate care at a north Queensland health service contributed to the deaths of three children in the past decade, an investigation into alleged malpractice has found.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath on Friday handed down a report into Mackay Hospital and Health Service ordered last October following complaints from women about complications from caesareans and allegations of patient harm.

The investigation team was tasked with identifying conduct within obstetrics and gynaecology services at the hospital between 1 July 2019 to 1 November 2021.

Ms D'Ath said three cases were identified where inadequate care led to the loss of three children.

"Those three cases span over 10 years. No family should ever have to experience the devastation of the loss of a child and certainly not under these circumstances," she said.

"To all the women and families who had been impacted by these failings, I offer my sincerest and unreserved apology.

"Our health system can and must do better."

Ninety six women participated in the investigation, with 84 cases included in the report and 12 still under review.

Women described being disrespected, neglected, left in pain or discharged back to GPs with incomplete resolution of their problems and no adequate follow up.

The report said 26 cases fell below expected medical standards resulting in personal injury or harm.

The women have been advised of a compensation pathway, the minister said.

Investigations found multiple examples of substandard clinical care, poor clinical incident monitoring, poor management of safety and quality, complications and clinical deterioration and poor human resource management.

It found examples where the consequences for a number of women were life altering yet some were left with unanswered questions.

Ms D'Ath noted some findings were of the incidence of particular injuries during obstetric and gynecology surgery, with 21 recorded in just over one year.

"The expected incidence of the Mackay Base Hospital sites would be zero to one per year," she said.

"In 2021, the care provided was not evidence based.

"While structures and processes were put in place and were in place to promote safety and learn from incidents where things went wrong, the structures and processes were not always used appropriately," she said.

"That system level failure enabled poor practice and unprofessional behaviours to flourish."

Liberal National opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates described the failures as catastrophic, and said Ms D'Ath should "do the right thing today and resign."

"We saw in the report that nurses and doctors were raising these alarming issues and that they were ignored," Ms Bates said.

"I don't have faith in the Palaszczuk Government to fix the Queensland health crisis and I certainly have no faith in Yvette D'Ath as the health minister."

The minister has issued a show cause notice to the hospital and health board regarding how they may effectively discharge their duties and obligations and whether any or all board members should be dismissed.

The health service has until next Friday to respond.

A special advisor to the health service board has been appointed, tasked with providing independent oversight of the issues raised.

© AAP 2022