Gwendoline Quick had surgery on her broken femur at Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) on Monday, four days after breaking her leg in a fall at a Marangaroo nursing home.
The 90-year-old Alzheimer’s sufferer had been taken to RPH after the fall last week, only to have her surgery put off repeatedly while hospital staff dealt with a series of high-risk trauma cases over the weekend.
The hospital has apologised to Ms Quick’s family, saying three emergency theatres and one orthopaedic trauma theatre had been operating during that time, and patients who required emergency and life-saving surgery needed to be prioritised.
But the Health Consumers’ Council of WA is worried the case is a symptom of an ever increasing demand on WA’s under-funded public hospitals.
Health Minister’s claims questioned
The council’s executive director, Pip Brennan, said Ms Quick and her family had been let down by the system.
“I don’t think you can avoid the reality that we haven’t done the right thing by this woman,” she said.
Ms Brennan questioned claims by Health Minister John Day that there had been no cuts to the health system.
“We can’t really deny that there has in fact been a [full-time equivalent positions] freeze for some months,” Ms Brennan said.
“There are problems with actually having enough staff to staff the hospitals. Our hospital services are stretched and staff are under enormous pressure.
“We’ve had the FTE (full-time equivalent) freeze but you’ve also got increasing population. So there’s an unfortunate gap. It’s not a good recipe for patient centred care unfortunately.
“It’s an effective cut. Even if you say ‘we haven’t actually cut dollars’, if you’ve got more people presenting and you’ve got freezes or cuts to staff, then yes what happens at the end of the line is the patient misses out.”
Patient care ‘compromised’
Opposition health spokesman Roger Cook described Ms Quick’s case as horrible and completely unacceptable.
“It is plain as day that the Government has compromised patient care,” he said.
“The Barnett Government has simply forgotten abut the people who matter most in our hospital system, WA patients.”
Ms Brennan said she accepted that staff at the hospital were forced to prioritise patients, and said cases such as Ms Quick’s were difficult for all involved.
“It’s distressing for nurses. It’s distressing for patient care assistants. Everybody who’s on the ground,” she said.
“It’s very very difficult. They’re the ones with the patient at the end of the line of all these different economic decisions that we make.”
She said it was likely hospital administration would conduct a review of the case to determine how it could have been handled differently, and said the council would be willing to assist Ms Quick’s family if they wished.
“Hospitals really try to see what they can do to create change for the next time. And I think often that’s what people want to know,” she said.
Ms Brennan also said she was concerned about how the hospital system would cope in the winter months, when demand in emergency departments traditionally intensified.
That sentiment was echoed by Mr Cook.
“I hold grave concerns for WA patients,” he said. “We are yet to see the peak of the flu season take effect.
“It must be very worrying for WA patients and their families that the Barnett Government has cut hospital budgets simply to meet its budgetary needs.”