A YOUNG Gold Coast man has undergone surgery to stabilise his broken neck after Queensland Premier Peter Beattie was alerted to his five-day wait.
The Gold Coast Bulletin newspaper today reported that Matt Kuhne, 19, was unable to have the operation due to a shortage of intensive care nurses at a Brisbane hospital.
Mr Kuhne broke his neck in three places in a motorcycle accident at Queensland Raceway last week, the report said.
Mr Beattie said Mr Kuhne today underwent surgery at Princess Alexandra Hospital but denied he had the case "shuffled up the queue``.
The Premier said he did not intervene because the case had received media attention, but to ensure it was being handled properly.
"Unfortunately, there is a shortage of intensive care nurses right around the country that has temporarily limited the number of ICU (intensive care unit) beds,`` Mr Beattie said in Brisbane today.
"It would be appropriate for me to ensure that the system is operating effectively and that`s all I asked to do.``
Mr Beattie said recruitment of nurses had slowed since the case of Gold Coast Hospital registrar Dr Mohamed Haneef, who returned to India after a terrorism-related charge against him was dropped.
"I`m told that the controversy over Haneef has made it a little bit harder and slowed this process down a little,`` he said.
"The core issue has been the shortage of ICU nurses.
"I`m satisfied that this (decision to operate) was made on medical grounds when the nurses were available, without my interference in it.``
