Beryl Crosby calls for WBHHS CEO to be sacked

Bundaberg Hospital and the Wide Bay Health Service have responded to claims of patients screaming in waiting rooms and shortages of doctors, food and medication which led to calls for its leadership to be sacked.

Rhonda Hudson chats with Burnett MP Stephen Bennett and patient advocate Beryl Crosby.

A Bundaberg mother says her adult daughter was left screaming in agony as she endured a wait for a bed at Bundaberg Hospital.

Bundaberg Hospital refutes claims it ran out of food

The incident is one of a recent list of claims against the hospital which has now prompted patient advocate Beryl Crosby to call for the CEO and board to face the chop. In comes as the Health Minister sacked the Mackay Base Hospital Board and appointed an administrator.

Health service hits back at Opposition Leader’s ED wait time allegations 

The WBHHS reaffirmed the details of the situation at the weekend, and reassured patients that patient care was paramount.

“Over the weekend in question, Bundaberg Hospital did experience higher than usual emergency presentations and was escalated to Tier 3 bed capacity status as a result,” a spokesperson said.

“Escalation actions were implemented and at all times, patients received appropriate monitoring and care.

“WBHHS would like to recognise the significant efforts of staff who continued to deliver high-quality and clinically appropriate care in the face of an exceptional workload.

“We have confidence in the professionalism and skills of our staff and can assure the community that anyone who presents to an emergency department will be seen, prioritising the most urgent cases.”

Rhonda Hudson says her 27-year-old daughter, Krystal, fell ill with severe pressure on the brain on Thursday.

She was taken to Bundaberg Hospital and a lumbar puncture was performed, but when she didn’t have her medication on her she was forced to drive home to get it.

On the way back, she again experienced severe head pain and had to be taken back to hospital by ambulance.

Ms Hudson says her daughter was discharged the next morning and put in the transit lounge, but by the time she went to see her, a nurse informed the worried mum that Krystal had been sent back to emergency because her pain again became worse.

Ms Hudson said it was an agonising wait for a bed.

“She was screaming in agony,” she said.

“They did not have a bed, she had to stay in a hospital wheelchair.

“It wasn't till later, later, later, till late in the afternoon that she actually got a bed.”

Ms Hudson also questioned why she saw several empty beds in the ward when her daughter was finally admitted.

“It was terrible, it was so terrible just being in the waiting room and watching her scream,” she said.

Rhonda Hudson chats with Burnett MP Stephen Bennett and patient advocate Beryl Crosby.

“She was in so much pain.”

She said Krystal was in terrible pain because she was allergic to the medications she was offered, and was otherwise only offered Panadol.

“I felt useless,” she said,

“There was nothing I could do. I was sad. It was awful.”

Ms Hudson said it was a busy day in the emergency department and her daughter now had a bed.

Burnett MP Stephen Bennett claimed the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service was on a downward spiral, blaming the controversial removal of former CEO Adrian Pennington.

Mr Bennett said it was in the wake of that event that a growing number of nurses, advocates and patients were raising concerns with claims of double banking, people waiting in wheelchairs and on plastic chairs, ramping and running out of food, medicines and medical staff.

“It‘s the culture we’ve got in this hospital,” he said.

Mr Bennett labelled it “third world country stuff” and accused the hospital CEO Debbie Carroll and board of not showing leadership.

“We need to realise just how tragic this is going to become for patients, families and others that get caught up in this every day,” he said.

“The culture is rotten and management out of its depth.”

Patient advocate Beryl Crosby is calling for the WBHHS leadership team to be sacked. Photo Paul Beutel

The WBHHS recently denied claims it had run out of food during a busy weekend, but Mr Bennett lashed out at the health service’s “spin doctors”, saying they were making out everything was fine when it wasn’t.

“We always get to hear one story and that‘s usually from the Wide Bay Health Service management and their spin doctors in the media team,” he said.

“But I'm going to stand up for nurses that reached out over the weekend, I’m going to stand up for those patients, those families that reached out and have these horrific stories to tell.

“And quite frankly I know who I believe and I don’t have any faith in the Queensland Health system across the whole state.

“More importantly here I don’t have any faith in the management or the media spin doctors trying to tell us that everything’s fine.”

Patient advocate Beryl Crosby called for the health service’s management team to face the chop as she alleged things had become increasingly worse.

Ms Crosby said medication had been a huge issue, with medicines either running out, not given on time or given wrongly.

“It's just ongoing issues all the time,” she said.

The long-time advocate said she was receiving daily complaints, including from one patient who claimed to have had multiple issues during their stay.

Ms Crosby said the hospital had gone from having “one of the best” reports in the state three years ago to a downward spiral.

“The board and CEO should be sacked,” she said.

“That’s what I’m going to be calling for.”

Ms Crosby also said it was not acceptable to put Covid forward as a reason for alleged issues at the hospital.

“Covid came and went, these issues came before and after,” she said.

Bundaberg Hospital. Photo: File

The Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service said it was bound by a strict duty to uphold confidentiality and privacy and could not address specific patient concerns in the public domain.

“Should any patient or community member have any concerns or complaints about the care received and would like these resolved, we encourage them to contact our Clinical Governance Support Unit on 4184 1824 [e-mail],” they said.