Sunshine Coast woman waits four hours in pain after ambulance ramping

A Sunshine Coast woman couldn’t believe her eyes when she was rushed to hospital in agonising pain and waited several hours before seeing a doctor.

Palmview resident Rebecca Etherington spent four hours waiting to see a doctor at Sunshine Coast University Hospital.

A Sunshine Coast woman who was forced to wait several hours in agonising pain before seeing a doctor has described the state of ambulance ramping as “awful”.

Palmview resident Rebecca Etherington was rushed to Sunshine Coast University Hospital after having a fall and snapping a ligament in her foot on Wednesday, December 6.

On arrival at the hospital, Ms Etherington was faced with a “huge line-up” before waiting approximately four hours to be seen by a doctor.

Quarterly data released in October by Queensland Health Minister Shannon Fentiman, in response to questions on ambulance ramping, showed one patient at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital spent 249 minutes – or four hours and nine minutes – waiting for hospital care.

“There was a huge line-up, both in the emergency beds and the ambulances that were ramped,” Ms Etherington said of her experience.

“There were a lot of paramedics standing around, there were a lot of beds that were lined up in emergency, it took me a while to get in there, it wasn’t moving that rapidly.

“Once I got into the acute emergency area, there was minimal staff.”

Sunshine Coast University Hospital. Picture: Patrick Woods.

After briefly being seen by a nurse, she waited in “immense pain” before being seen by a doctor for the first time.

“It was just ridiculous, I was shocked, I could not believe what I was seeing,” Ms Etherington said.

“They just put me in a bed, put an ice pack on my foot and took me for an x-ray.”

Ambulances ramped at outside emergency room at Sunshine Coast University Hospital. Picture: Patrick Woods.

Ms Etherington waited another five hours before she was next seen by a doctor.

“Then I waited about five hours and the doctor came around and said he looked at my x-rays, there was nothing broken, so he gave me some crutches and sent me home,” she said.

Ms Etherington said before that experience she did not realise the seriousness of ambulance ramping in Queensland.

“I’ve spent a lot of time in hospitals, but that was the first time that I’ve ever gone this is awful,” she said.

“There were people trying to get in the available beds, but there were no workers.”

In a statement, a Sunshine Coast Health spokeswoman said that patients are treated according to their triage category.

“Patients whose conditions are not immediately life-threatening will wait according to their triage category,” the spokeswoman said.

“Category one patients are those suffering from a critical injury or cardiac arrest, these patients are our first priority.

“Patients who may not need immediate care include those presenting with suspected broken bones, vomiting, urinary tract infections, or rashes are treated according to their clinical urgency.”