Bundaberg Hospital patients slam painful surgery delays

Patients have criticised Bundaberg Hospital over recurring cancellations, saying the uncertainty and constant disappointment is taking a heavy toll on their physical and mental health.

Patient advocate Beryl Crosby blames management for the multiple last-minute cancellations being experienced at Bundaberg Hospital.

Patients have slammed Bundaberg Hospital for repeated last-minute cancellations of operations they say are prolonging “insurmountable” pain and causing mental and physical trauma.

Krystal Hudson has had her hysterectomy cancelled twice after being placed on a six-month waiting list, despite telling medical staff she was experiencing intense pain.

“I’ve been in an insurmountable amount of pain, which I told (the hospital),” she said.

“I really did try to stress to them that I really want to have it sooner, but they wouldn’t bring it forward any more than six months.”

Two days before the date of the surgery finally rolled around, Miss Hudson was told her operation would postponed because the surgical gynaecologist rostered for that day doesn’t do hysterectomies.

Miss Hudson’s hopes were dashed again when the rescheduled surgery was again cancelled, this time due to no anaesthetist available that day.

Miss Hudson’s procedure was rescheduled twice due to unavailability of key medical staff.

Miss Hudson now has little confidence that the surgery will go ahead.

“The only confidence I’ve got is that a few days before the next surgery rolls around, they’re going to ring me and cancel it again,” she said.

The Rosedale resident, who has a rare degenerative disease and uses a wheelchair, said planning for such an intensive procedure was a significant undertaking due to her disability.

“It’s a big operation and every time they ring me up and cancel it, I’ve built up the mentality of the recovery and going through all of that,” she said.

“Then I’ve got to deal with the emotion of being let down by it and going through it all again.

A petition arranged by patient advocate Beryl Crosby calling for the sacking of the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service board for presiding over service failures received 887 signatures.

“Honestly at this point it’s doing my head in mentally. Every day I wake up and I think, ‘Is the hospital going to be ringing me today?’

“It’s really affecting me mentally.”

Miss Hudson said the experience gave her little reason to think anyone cared about her ordeal.

“They don’t seem to realise, understand or quite frankly give a damn about how they’re affecting lives,” she said.

“When you book someone in for surgery, you make sure that there’s an anaesthetist in the room,” she said.

“You don’t schedule people and get their hopes up and then ring them a few days prior and say, ‘oh, sorry, buddy it’s not happening’.”

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Beyond the trauma and stress around the surgery itself, the delays are affecting other parts of her life.

After spending the past six years completing a Bachelor of Psychological Scienceat CQUniversity, Miss Hudson was looking forward to graduating at the end of the year and beginning a career as a psychologist.

She will now need to extend her degree another year due to the delayed operations.

“This is really going to set me back. It’s going to put me in a position of a career professional disadvantage,” Miss Hudson said.

Miss Hudson’s account of her difficulties in seeking treatment from Bundaberg Hospital give an insight into the public’s discontent with the hospital’s standards of care.

A petition arranged by patient advocate Beryl Crosby calling for the sacking of the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service board for presiding over service failures received 887 signatures.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said in a response to the petition on March 23 that she would not make a recommendation to the Government to dismiss the board, because it would not be in the public interest.

Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service annual reports reveal that the service received 1,373 complaints in the 2020-2021 financial year. Data for patient complaints was omitted entirely from the 2021-2022 annual report.

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Mrs Crosby said Miss Hudson’s experience was evidence of the hospital mismanagement she sought to address through her petition.

“It is absolutely appalling how these patients are being treated, and it’s not acceptable,” Mrs Crosby said.

“And this comes down again to management. If you can’t manage your lists of operations and match them up with the patients and make sure that those patients have their operation, there’s something fundamentally wrong.”

Wide Bay Health and Hospital Service declined to comment on the specifics of individual cases without written consent, but confirmed that appointments may need to be rearranged due to changing availability of staff.

Wide Bay Health and Hospital Service declined to comment on the specifics of individual cases without written consent, but confirmed that appointments at times needed to be rearranged due to changing availability of staff.

“While WBHHS makes every effort to treat all of our patients within recommended time frames, sometimes we have to reschedule appointments to ensure appropriate and safe care can be provided,” a spokesman said.

“If a surgeon or anaesthetist is no longer available on a scheduled date, we may need to arrange a different time.

“This includes the impact of sudden sick leave and other unforeseen issues.

“We recognise this can be inconvenient, and always endeavour to advise the patient as soon as we are aware of a change and reschedule their appointment.”