Welcome to our fourth edition of Bright magazine.
Find the latest copy of Bright Magazine in our facility waiting rooms or download a digital version to read now.
In this edition we’ve really let you in behind the scenes of our health service with features on robotic-assisted surgeries, plastic surgery being offered at Caloundra Health Service, what happens when a rescue helicopter lands at SCUH, our nursing and midwifery awards, and elective surgery waitlists explained.
Bright is a chance for us to showcase the good work we do in our health service, but also to share how the system works and explain some of the complexities of health care.
The ‘your journey through elective surgery’ article in this edition shares helpful information about how the waitlist works and what each of the steps mean. In the first quarter of 2026 (January to March) we performed 3,755 planned surgeries, which is more than 1,000 each month! 1,700 of those planned surgeries were category one (or our most clinically urgent) patients.
We have around 20,000 people arrive at our emergency departments each month with the majority of those patients in categories 1 to 3 (the most urgent categories). As a team we work hard to balance making sure we can support planned surgeries with the unplanned emergency surgeries we might need to be able to care for.
If you’re reading this in a waiting room at one of our hospitals, I want to say thank you for your understanding. At times we have to urgently care for other people’s loved ones, and your patience is really appreciated by our hard-working teams.
We hope you enjoy reading this edition and as always if you have any feedback feel free to send it through to sc-communications@health.qld.gov.au
Dr Peter Gillies
Chief Executive
In this issue
- When every minute counts:
Meet the team on the ground - Meet Sunshine Coast Health’s 2026 Nurse and
Midwife of the Year - How Calm Fairy Stacey
spreads her quiet magic for our youngest patients - Robotic-assisted surgery
halving recovery times
- Your journey
through elective
surgery - Plastic surgery now
offered at Caloundra
Health Service - A snapshot of daily life at Glenbrook Residential
Aged Care - Butterfly Suite
Gympie
