Chris Dobney
Newly minted health minister Brad Hazzard already has a job on his hands after shadow north coast minister Walt Secord wrote to him yesterday demanding to know why a patient with bowel obstruction had to wait 13 hours at Byron Central Hospital’s emergency department.
Ocean Shores resident Sue Harrison was rushed by ambulance to the hospital at around 10pm on the night of January 22, in the middle of the school holidays, but when she arrived at the ED only one doctor and two nurses were on duty.
Ms Harrison told Echonetdaily that an hour after she arrived, while she was still waiting to be seen, a patient arrived in cardiac arrest, which required the full resources of all three staff to deal with.
And after the 13-hour wait Ms Harrison was still forced to rely on her private health insurance in order to receive proper treatment.
She said the ordeal began when she had to call 000 after being in such pain that she could not walk.
‘The ambos were incredible, fast, helped my pain and got me to Byron Hospital emergency quickly and safely,’ she told Echonetdaily.
Once there I was shocked to see there were only two nurses and one doctor on duty.
‘I think there were at least three other cubicles with patients needing care.
‘One hour after I arrived a full cardiac arrest arrived and the nurses and doctor understandably busy with that emergency, so all other patients were not able to have care,’ she said.
Nurses never stopped
Ms Harrison said there were ‘numerous other patients that needed care coming in’ and yet ‘still there were no other staff’.
She added that it fell to the overworked doctor ‘to be on the phone to find out what hospital I could be transferred to and how.’
Ms Harrison worked in health care in hospitals in the US, where she said a ward secretary is available to perform such tasks.
‘To have a doctor having to be on the phone arranging transport is a total waste of personnel and is actually dangerous to not have a doctor able to respond and be wasting his time on ward secretary work.’
‘The poor nurses were so busy they never stopped and one nurse had to work three hours after her shift ended,’ she said.
Ms Harrison described the situation as ‘unacceptable for a brand new hospital, or any hospital in Australia.’
‘First of all we should have surgical rooms there but maybe more importantly they need more staff.
‘When I told one of the nurses I was going to write a letter she said “please do! We are a first world country and this should not happen.”
‘She said they have asked numerous times for more staff and they are not believed regarding how busy they are.’
Private hospital experience
Ms Harrison said she was ultimately transferred to John Flynn Hospital, which required her to dip into her private health insurance
She told Echonetdaily that the reception she received at the private hospital was ‘like night and day’ after her experience at Byron Central.
‘They were suitably staffed. The nurses were very calm, cool and collected – and they were more able to do their job and give me great care. Everybody was much more able to concentrate on their work – the care of patients.’
She concluded that it had been ‘an eye opening experience for me.’
‘The hospital is beautiful but it will never run smoothly without the essential people that make things happen,’ Ms Harrison said.
New minister on notice
NSW shadow health minister Walt Secord has called for an immediate investigation into staffing levels at the new hospital.
Mr Secord yesterday wrote to newly appointed health minister Brad Hazzard to seek an investigation into the appropriate staffing levels at the facility.
In the letter, Mr Secord wrote, ‘I remind you that the the $88 million Byron Central Hospital was officially opened on May 9, 2016 by the then-Health Minister Jillian Skinner. It is ludicrous that we have a brand new hospital without appropriate staffing.’
Mr Secord said that, at the time, the hospital was promoted by the Nationals, ‘who claimed it would respond to the growing and ageing population on the north coast.’
‘Another day, another problem within the health and hospital system on the north coast,’ he said.
‘This incident is shocking. The patient waited 13 hours and then resorted to private health insurance at John Flynn Hospital in Queensland because there were no surgical suites at Byron Central Hospital.’
‘The patient and the north coast community deserve a full investigation into this incident and they need to be reassured that when they present at hospital, there is enough staff to look after their health needs.’
‘The NSW health and hospital system lurches from crisis to crisis.’
‘Who can forget the shocking photographic evidence of a patient lying on the concrete outside Ballina hospital? That was a national disgrace and the Nationals should hang their heads in shame.’
Echonetdaily approached Northern NSW Local Health District for comment but none had been received at time of writing.
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