Source : the age
An 88-year-old man died after spending eight hours on a trolley waiting for admission to a Geelong emergency department, prompting scrutiny of the hospital involved.
The man, who had serious underlying health conditions and had been taken to the University Hospital Geelong from a nursing home on Wednesday night after suffering a nosebleed, remained in the emergency department throughout the night before dying on Thursday morning, according to healthcare staff.
Between midnight and 2am, more than a dozen ambulances were ramped outside the Barwon Health-run hospital as staff scrambled to make beds available, following high emergency department demand throughout Wednesday.
The elderly man had been transferred from a nursing home in a St John Ambulance non-emergency patient transport ambulance.
Four sources with knowledge of the incident said he remained on an ambulance trolley under the care of St John paramedics for eight hours before finally being admitted to an emergency bed early on Thursday morning.
The hospital denied the wait was eight hours, but declined to say how long the man was on the trolley.
Soon after being placed in the emergency department bed, the 88-year-old went into cardiac arrest and died.
Barwon Health declined to answer The Age’s questions concerning the time of the patient’s admission or the length of time he waited to be admitted.
Victoria’s coroner is not investigating the death.
Barwon Health chief medical officer Professor Ajai Verma said it would be reviewed in accordance with the hospital’s safety and quality processes.
“Our thoughts are with the patient’s family at this time, and we offer our condolences for their loss,” Verma said.
The Department of Health confirmed it had been advised of the incident and was working with Barwon Health to examine the circumstances.
The Age is not suggesting the man’s life may have been saved if he had been admitted to a hospital bed sooner.
Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill said it was inappropriate for any patient to spend hours waiting on an ambulance trolley, let alone someone who was elderly.
“By all accounts the patient transport crew did everything they could. They are experienced and well regarded. But waiting eight hours in a hospital corridor is way too long,” Hill said.
“An ambulance stretcher in a hospital corridor is not a comfortable situation for an elderly patient. Anytime crews are ramped at hospital, they are unable to respond to patients in the community.”
Paramedics have confirmed that more than a dozen Ambulance Victoria crews were ramped and waiting to offload patients at University Hospital Geelong about 1am, with some of their emergency patients having waited for 2½ hours.
The delays also meant there were no local ambulance crews to respond to multiple emergency calls in the Geelong region in the early hours of Thursday morning.
An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said it had to implement measures to cope with the ramping in Geelong.
“Ambulance Victoria had a number of paramedic resources at University Hospital Geelong last night in what we understand was a period of high demand for the hospital. In response, Ambulance Victoria initiated its demand escalation protocols,” the spokesperson said.
State opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said the situation surrounding the patient’s care and death must be examined.
“It is a very sad and tragic outcome for this family” Crozier said. “The government needs to explain why this patient was left on a trolley and died.”
A spokesperson for Health Minister Harriet Shing said the Department of Health was working with health services to understand what happened, with a review of the case to follow.
“We send our deepest condolences to this person’s family and loved ones,” the spokesperson said.
St John Ambulance Victoria has been contacted for comment.
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