Hospital make 83 year old wait 10 hours for treatment
Posted: Friday, 6 July 2012 | By: John Robertson ,Andrew McDonald
The NSW Labor Opposition is demanding that Health Minister Jillian Skinner apologise to Mr Kevin Wiseman, an 83-year-old who arrived at John Hunter Hospital and was made to wait 10 hours then sent home with an undiagnosed brain haemorrhage, smashed vertebrae and fractured skull.
The shocking revelation comes days after a suspected stroke victim was left to languish in the same hospital's emergency ward for 24 hours before receiving treatment.
"Jillian Skinner must apologise to Mr Wiseman for the care he received in the NSW hospital system," Opposition Leader John Robertson said today.
"The Minister needs to take responsibility for what happened and rule out any cuts to hospital staff at John Hunter Hospital immediately.
"Mr Wiseman is an elderly man who was knocked unconscious after falling from a bus – then made to wait 10 hours in freezing conditions on an ambulance trolley before being sent home undiagnosed.
"The Minister must explain why Mr Wiseman failed to receive a CT scan – and therefore went home with an undetected brain haemorrhage.
"The public is also entitled to a detailed action plan from Jillian Skinner to ensure CT scans are never denied in cases like this ever again.
"This is the second horror story to emerge from John Hunter in less than a week.
"The O'Farrell Government is failing to fund the emergency beds and medical staff to cope with growing demand especially in areas like the Hunter – and patient care is suffering as a result.
"To make matters worse, the O'Farrell Government plans to cut 3600 health workers over four years – including an estimated 360 jobs in Hunter Hospitals alone.
"There won't be a hospital anywhere in NSW that isn't impacted – forcing patients to endure even longer waiting times and a reduced standard of care.
"These cuts will set our health system back a generation and must be stopped."
Shadow Minister for Health Dr Andrew McDonald said: "Mr Wiseman's assessment was inadequate because there wasn't the time, the room or the staff to do it properly.
"You can't properly assess patients when they're on ambulance trolleys – it's just physically impossible.
"Our doctors and nurses are performing heroically in the face of unimaginable funding pressures – but Jillian Skinner knows she's not providing the resources that hospitals need.
"As the Minister responsible for Mr Wiseman's care, she must apologise."
HUNTER HOSPITALS IN CRISIS
- Median ambulance response times have blown out to 20 minutes in some parts of the Hunter – double the Statewide figure.
- Cancer sufferers forced to travel to Sydney due to oncologist shortages.
- More than 100 positions remain unfilled in the Hunter New England health district according to the NSW Health website.
- O'Farrell Government failed to allocate John Hunter, Calvary Mater and Maitland Hospitals a single additional cent to cope with emergency ward bed blockages in the recent State Budget.
Tags: Barry O'Farrell, Dr Andrew Mcdonald, health, hospitals, hospitals in the hunter valley, hunter valley, Jillian Skinner, john hunter hospital, John Robertson, NSW labor, O'Farrell Government