91yo Adelaide woman with suspected stroke ramped 15 hours then waits 24 hours for a bed

It was a night from hell for 91-year-old great-grandmother Pat Turner – waiting for an ambulance after a bad fall, ramped for 15 hours, then a 24–hour wait for a ward bed.

• Nurse reveals diabolic state of RAH

A 91-year-old great grandmother suffering a suspected stroke was ramped for 15 hours at two hospitals, then had to wait 24 hours for a ward bed after being treated in the ED, her daughter says – plus a couple of hours stuck on a trolley in a corridor.

Pat Turner’s horror story as the health system buckles included multiple triple-0 calls for help before an ambulance arrived, and being refused entry to private hospitals despite her private insurance, as they also are full.

Her daughter Libby Turner who recently moved from central Queensland to be full-time carer for her mother at her Brooklyn Park home praised ambulance and medical staff but not the health system.

“Mum weighs just 39kg, is 91 and has a leaky heart valve but had to put up with this nightmare,” she said. “Mum’s a fighter but this was ridiculous.”

The ordeal began when Mrs Turner had a bad fall at home on Monday about 4pm, hitting her head.

Libby made repeated calls to triple-0 for help as her mother’s condition deteriorated and she began bleeding from the nose, at a time ambulances were ramped and calls for help were queued.

Libby said an ambulance arrived about 5.15pm.

Great grandmother Pat Turner, 91, with dog Milly. Picture: Libby Turner

“She was assessed as having a possible stroke as her speech was slurred and her face was puffy,” she said. “Mum’s got private health but all the private hospitals were full and they took her to the QEH where she was ramped.

“I stayed with her until 10pm and when I rang the QEH at 5am the next day was told she was still ramped but was now at the RAH.”

Libby received a call from a doctor about 9am on Tuesday saying her mother was being taken to be assessed included head scans.

“She was then moved to a different area as she was going to be admitted – but yesterday she was still in the ED area after 24 hours because there were no ward beds,” she said.

“Mum was finally taken and was left on a trolley in a corridor for an hour or two before eventually being moved into a room.”

It is understood no stroke code was called in for the incident and there is a dispute over the time taken to be given a ward bed. The grandmother of two and great grandmother of four does not appear to have suffered a stroke and does not have any broken bones but is being monitored.

At 10am on Thursday the six major adult metropolitan hospitals had 127 patients in EDs who had been treated but were waiting for a ward bed – 26 of them for more than 24 hours.

Central Adelaide Local Health Network chief executive Emma McCahon said: “We apologise to Mrs Turner and her family for the time spent waiting to access our emergency departments.

“Our health service is working through a period of high winter demand, and we acknowledge and thank our hardworking skilled staff for their ongoing commitment and care for our patients during this busy period.

“Many of the patients presenting to our emergency department are incredibly unwell or have complex care needs and our staff are doing all they can to create timely access to appropriate care.

“We continue to see our sickest patients first and are working as quickly as we can to move all patients to appropriate care locations.”

Shadow Health Minister Ashton Hurn said: “Labor should hang their head in shame, going to the election promising South Australians they’d fix ramping and urging people to vote like their life depends on it - then presiding over record ramping and shocking experiences like what Libby and her mum have gone through.”

Originally published as 91yo Adelaide woman with suspected stroke ramped 15 hours then waits 24 hours for a bed