Royal Adelaide Hospital ED suicide tragedy sparks urgent probe

Urgent inquiries are underway after a woman brought into the overwhelmed ED was found dead after being left unattended.

An overdose patient left unattended in the Royal Adelaide Hospital emergency department was found dead after taking her own life, The Advertiser understands.

Multiple sources say the young woman was left alone in a cubicle out of direct line of sight of staff after being brought to the ED on Monday night.

It is believed the ED was operating well above capacity at the time with a full waiting room, ambulances ramped and staff under immense pressure.

When a nurse later checked, the woman was found dead. It is understood the cause was not linked to the overdose.

Staff are being counselled over the tragedy and an urgent internal inquiry is underway.

Shaken workers say it is a symptom of an ED that is overworked and understaffed.

“Of all places you should be safe, you should be safe in an ED,” a clinician told The Advertiser.

“It is an absolute tragedy. It seems she was just lost in the system.”

The Central Adelaide Local Health Network issued the following statement to The Advertiser.

“An incident occurred in Royal Adelaide Hospital Emergency Department on Monday 31 October.

“We offer our sincere condolences to the patient’s family and respect their privacy at this time.

“Support continues to be available to both the family and to our staff.

“The matter has been referred to the Coroner and as such we are unable to comment on the matter.”

The death comes as the family of Keisha Smith, who took her own life in March aged 21, call for health system reform.

The RAH has been under ongoing intense pressure since the September 2017 opening of the $2.4bn flagship hospital despite it being hailed as the hospital to cope with growth for the next century.

Chronic ramping has soared to record levels with other overloaded hospitals diverting ambulances to the RAH, patients are regularly stuck in the ED for more than 24 hours after being treated waiting for a suitable ward bed.

At 8pm on Thursday, of the 52 people in the 69-capacity ED, 19 had been treated but were waiting for a ward bed, while another 20 were in the waiting room or arriving by ambulance, with an average wait time to be seen of 47 minutes.

The sad death comes as relations between management and clinicians have soured after a sudden executive order for consultants to fast-track their rounds in order to discharge patients faster, in turn freeing up ward beds, clearing the ED and easing ramping.

Clinicians say the order to finish rounds by 10.30am instead of well into the afternoon will put patients at risk by cutting the time spent to ensure they are ready for discharge.

CALHN chief executive Lesley Dwyer says at any time there are up to 30 patients waiting for a ward bed and finishing rounds by 10.30am will free up the equivalent of an extra ward. The matter is in the SA Employment Tribunal.