75-year-old Gillian Lane was ramped for five hours at the Flinders Medical Centre with blood clots in her lungs

A 75-year-old woman was left waiting to see a doctor for nine hours after being ramped at a southern suburbs based hospital with blood clots in her lungs.

A family have expressed their outrage at the South Australian health system after their elderly mother, who they say was “at death’s door”, was ramped at Flinders Medical Centre for five hours.

Gillian Lane, 75, needed oxygen to help her breathe and was suffering from influenza A, pneumonia and pulmonary embolisms in her lungs when she was stranded in an ambulance earlier this month.

75-year-old Gillian Lane was left waiting five and a half hours in an ambulance. Picture Dean Martin

Daughter Amanda Lane, who is also a nurse, said her mother arrived at the hospital at 12.30pm on April 2 and wasn’t seen by a doctor until nine hours later.

“The next day I went in there at 10.30am and she was still in emergency, she couldn’t go to the toilet … (and) she hadn’t had a shower for three days,” Amanda said.

“They were in crisis mode at this point. If she wasn’t so fit, she would have died.”

Amanda said her mother hadn’t been given any food at this point because she was “too sick to have a voice”.

“We had to tag team to make sure she was being fed,” she said.

“She was at death’s door. She was just left in emergency behind a curtain … she was so humiliated.”

Gillian started to feel unwell on April 1 after returning from a two-week trip to Cambodia and Vietnam.

Amanda went to see her at home the following day where she was discovered to be very unwell.

Daughter Amanda Lane, who is also a nurse, said her mother wasn’t seen by a doctor until nine hours later. Picture Dean Martin

“She couldn’t even breathe,” Amanda said.

She was also delusional and had a temperature.

“The ambulance got there in 10 minutes, she couldn’t breath, she was on oxygen, she was so sick,” she said.

Gillian said waiting in the emergency department for so long was “uncomfortable”.

However, she said she didn’t blame the staff, rather the system they worked in.

Gillian Lane at home with her daughter, Amanda Lane, and dog Alfie. Picture Dean Martin

“I can’t fault what happened once I got in the system,” she said.

Gillian said she was left without food for a period of time.

“No food came down our end,” she said.

“I felt like some fruit … the nurse found me some peaches.

“The nurses are under so much pressure.”

Amanda said her mother had always had private health insurance but because she had just returned from overseas, was required to go to a public hospital.

At Flinders Medical Centre, she was left waiting five hours in an ambulance, and another four hours before seeing a doctor.

The 75-year-old is now back at home where she is making a good recovery.

Gillian and her family are calling on the SA government to make some improvements to put a stop to ramping and to prevent the unnecessary strain on the health system.

“It’s just so ridiculous … it was a shock she didn’t die,” Amanda said.

“It was the most stressful week, we didn’t trust anyone.”

Southern Adelaide Local Health Network (SALHN) chief operating officer Robin Moore has issued an apology to the Lane family, saying the day of Gillian’s presentation “the emergency department experienced high demand with many very sick people needing care, arriving in person and by ambulance”.

Mr Moore said “we apologise to Ms Lane and her family for her experience at Flinders Medical Centre”.

“Both SA Ambulance Service and SALHN provided the best possible care to Ms Lane,” he said in a statement.

“SAAS arrived within 10 minutes of the triple-0 call and transported her to FMC where she was triaged appropriately.

“Ms Lane continued to receive care by highly skilled paramedic clinicians until she was able to be transferred to our care.

“Ms Lane was transferred to a ward to continue her care the next day.”

Health Minister Chris Picton said the government is investing an extra $4.4 billion into our health system to address issues in the state’s hospitals.

“This includes 550 extra beds, with 150 hospital beds due to open this year and 130 next year. The 280 beds coming online by the end of next year is the equivalent of an extra QEH coming into the system,” he said.

“We are also hiring more doctors, nurses and allied health staff to ensure South Australians receive the highest quality of care.”