Doctors claim patient left with permanent disability after being denied emergency surgery at Modbury Hospital
A PATIENT has been left with a permanent disability after he was denied emergency surgery at Modbury Hospital, doctors allege.
- Doctors to fight Transforming Health in Industrial Relations Commission
- Modbury Hospital ED director quits over health reforms
- Debate: Will Transforming Health help or hurt SA?
A PATIENT has been left with a permanent disability after he was denied emergency surgery at Modbury Hospital, doctors allege.
However Health Minister Jack Snelling denied the allegations when questioned in State Parliament on Wednesday, saying they were “incorrect”.
Prominent critic of the Transforming Health reforms, Flinders University Emeritus Professor Warren Jones, said a surgeon and anaesthetist were prepared to operate on the patient when he arrived at Modbury’s emergency department six weeks ago but were not allowed to under reforms.
Prof Jones said by the time the patient had been transferred to the Lyell McEwin Hospital and surgeons there were ready to operate two hours later, his condition had deteriorated and required more radical surgery that left him with permanent disability.
Two Modbury doctors, who did not wish to be identified, backed Prof Jones’ account.
Prof Jones could not reveal the identity of the patient — a young adult — or his condition because of patient confidentiality, but he spoke out about the case in the hope of convincing the Government to reinstate emergency surgery at Modbury Hospital.
Modbury is being turned into an elective surgery centre for same-day operations.
The Transforming Health website states: “any patient who self-presents to the Modbury Hospital Emergency Department will be assessed and treated by a clinician. If a patient requires complex or lifesaving care they will be stabilised and transferred to another public hospital.”
The reforms came into effect in March this year despite written warnings from 30 Modbury Hospital doctors who said the changes would “deliver poorer patient and health system outcomes”.
Mr Snelling’s spokesman told The Advertiser: “The Health Department has investigated this claim and found that it is not true.”
Opposition health spokesman Stephen Wade said the case was “one of a number of adverse patient incidents”.