Fiona Stanley Hospital has been beset by problems since it opened in 2014. Photo: Supplied
An independent review of services at Fiona Stanley Hospital presents a grim picture of patient care at WA’s newest health facility.
The review details a long list of serious mistakes made by hospital staff, including how patients had been given the wrong medicine and wrong doses of the right medicine.
Jared Olsen, who died after a medication mix-up at Fiona Stanley Hospital. Photo: Branco Gaica
It also noted that drugs which were meant to be administered as an epidural were injected into veins instead.
Four patients broke their legs as a result of falling while in the hospital. Another suffered internal injuries after falling from a commode chair after being left unsupervised.
The review also points out that a woman who was pregnant with twins had to have an emergency caesarean section because medical staff had not managed the falling heartbeat in one of the twins.
Among the other issues covered in the review are examples of patients left lying in dirty beds and patients given the wrong food, or no food at all. In other cases patients who were slow eaters were discouraged from finishing their meals.
The family of a patient who died after being given the wrong medicine was not contacted by the review team.
WA Health acting director general Professor Bryant Stokes said the review had highlighted areas for improvement around clinical and patient care.
“I have met with the FSH executive team to discuss the issues raised in the report and been assured that work is underway to implement the recommendations as soon as possible,” he said.
The review of the hospital was carried out by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. It examined 105 complaints received by the Minister for Health since the $2 billion hospital opened last year.
The review, which was released on Wednesday, notes that a number of patients and/or their families were interviewed as part of the process. However the family of one patient, who died after he was administered the wrong medication, was not contacted by the review team.
Jared Olsen, 41, was given the wrong medicine while being treated for inflammatory bowel disease, and died less than a month later.
His father, Phillip Olsen, said review team had not been in touch with him and he wasn’t given an opportunity to make a submission.
He told 6PR Radio that he’d received a note from acting Health Minister John Day saying that he hadn’t been contacted regarding the review because the Coroner was investigating his son’s death.
“I don’t think there is any lawful impediment to two inquiries running hand in hand. I think it was just an excuse. They wanted to avoid any more bad publicity,” he said.
The review was also told that patients, some of them cancer patients, had had surgery delayed because the same series of tests were carried out repeatedly. In one case a patient presented with a previously diagnosed malignancy which was not mentioned in the patient’s notes.
In other cases Emergency Department patients were transferred to wards, only to be refused admission and returned to the Emergency Department.
There was also confusion over procedures around visiting patients and delays when patients were being discharged. In one instance a family waited more than seven hours before being able to take home their elderly relative because of a delay in supplying them with medication.
Another patient received a prescription by mail three days after discharge. The prescription contained no information about the drugs or the reason for it being prescribed.
The review was compiled by Dr Robert Herkes, Clinical Director of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, along with Ms Sharne Hogan, Director of Nursing, Concord Repatriation General Hospital. They came up with a list of 32 recommendations to address problems at Fiona Stanley Hospital.
The serious issues listed in the review are just the latest in a long list of problems to be highlighted at FSH. The Australian Nursing Federation and the Australian Medical Association have previously complained of patient care issues and management problems in bringing the hospital into operation.
The contract for sterilising surgical instruments was removed from Serco after complaints that the instruments were not being properly cleaned and had been returned to surgical theatres dirty.
And on several occasions operations have been delayed and rescheduled following parts of the hospital being flooded because of burst pipes.
Professor Bryant Stokes said that patient care was always a top priority.
“This review will assist Fiona Stanley Hospital management to improve their systems and policies.
“While I acknowledge that Fiona Stanley Hospital has had its challenges, it is a world-class facility delivering high quality and safe care for the population of Western Australia,” he said.