Patients forced to wait outside Lyell McEwin Hospital’s emergency department in the cold

A senior SA Health doctor has contradicted the Premier after a 92-year-old woman and other patients were forced to wait in freezing weather for more than two hours outside a hospital.

A senior SA Health doctor says it was not a “substantial stuff up” when an elderly woman was forced to wait for hours in freezing conditions outside an over-capacity emergency department.

Patients and supporters waited outside the Lyell McEwin’s ED overnight for more than two hours, including a diabetic Covid-positive man with lung illness and 92-year-old Maureen Wortley, for RAT test results.

Ms Wortley, 92, sat outside the Lyell McEwin Hospital’s packed emergency department on a 12C Sunday night without a blanket after she fell in her nearby northern suburbs home.

She waited longer than the expected 20 minutes after a “miscommunication” between staff over a rapid Covid test result, SA Health said.

Premier Peter Malinauskas has now said the policy making patients wait outside hospitals for rapid antigen test has already been changed.

Maureen Wortley waited outside at the Lyell McEwin Hospital’s packed ED on Mother's Day.

There were many patients who had to wait outside in the cold before they were seen.

Mr Malinauskas this morning described the incident as a “substantial stuff up” and said he was launching an urgent review into the circumstances.

“I’ve been dealing with this earlier this morning and I’ll continue to make inquiries,” Mr Malinauskas told ABC Radio Adelaide on Monday morning.

Divisional director of Critical Care in the Northern Adelaide Health Network, Dr Penny Conor, said she had “apologised unreservedly” to the elderly patient and her family.

But Dr Conor denied it was a “substantial stuff up”.

“There was a bit of miscommunication between a couple of the nursing staff in the external triage space and the staff who do the RAT test,” she said.

Dr Penny Conor speaks to media outside the Lyell McEwin hospital in Elizabeth. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

“I wouldn’t describe it as a substantial stuff up, but we could’ve done better.”

She said patients who need a RAT before entering the hospital should be able to enter within 20 minutes.

As Mrs Wortley’s injuries were not considered life-threatening, she was triaged outside, Dr Conor said.

She said to improve the process for triaged patients, all emergency department patients would be invited to wear an N95 face mask, rather than a surgical mask.

“We will aim to move our triage practices inside … we know that after hours it can get quite cold,” Dr Conor said.

“So only in times of surge or overcapacity where we need to move outside.”

An extra triage nurse would be added to cope with demand, and heaters and blankets would be set up as soon as possible outside, Dr Conor said. She added that the external Covid screening tent was set up to prevent people who may have the virus from interacting with other vulnerable people inside the hospital.

Mrs Wortley was not left outside because of overcapacity, Dr Conor said.

“She was triaged, found not to have an urgent life-threatening need to move straight inside, so the decision was made to do the Covid test outside, she said.

“There was a little bit of miscommunication after the test came back, when that occurred, to move her straight back inside at that point.”

Mr Malinauskas said the policy requiring patients to wait outside the hospital while they undergo a rapid antigen test has already been changed.

“What happened to that woman who was in her nineties, when she was outside waiting for a result of a rapid antigen test having already conducted one, we don’t see that as making any sense, particularly considering that isn’t a consistent approach throughout the state of South Australia,” he said.

“Already there has been a change of policy this morning to address what occurred.”

But he stopped short of giving an assurance that no other patient would be left in a similar situation.

“We will not leave a stone in this state unturned until we can see our hospital system working in a way that any reasonable person would expect,” he said.

In a pointed swipe at the former Liberal government, he said the incident happened because “we haven’t seen the investments in health capacity that were required”.

Covid patient lay on ‘freezing cold floor’ for two hours

Meanwhile, Jess Heida said her husband Scott had to “lie on the freezing cold floor” for more than two hours from about 8pm Sunday. 

The 33-year-old Munno Para man was dehydrated with asthma, Covid-19, lung illness and diabetes complications. 

Ms Heida called for an ambulance but was told they were too busy, and “it would be quicker if he could get there himself”. 

Due to Ms Heida also being Covid-positive, she was not able to transport her husband and they had to rely on a family member to pick him up. 

“I get this place is busy but come on … to make them wait outside in the freezing cold is absolutely ridiculous,” Ms Heida told The Advertiser. 

”Since he was able to get in he’s being treated but it’s not fair to allow sick people to wait in the freezing cold weather without any blankets or beds.” 

It comes after the family of a sick elderly woman said they waited in the cold for two hours outside an “overcapacity” Adelaide emergency department.

Outside the Lyell McEwin main entrance, patients were shocked to hear what happened overnight.

“It’s not good enough, it’s just not acceptable,” said Carol Klitscher.

The Clare woman, 74, said the thought of being put in a similar position was “awful”.

Another patient, Russell Griggs, 63, of Salisbury, said the situation was a “massive blunder”.

“It is embarrassing, that poor woman,” he said.

Maureen Wortley

Mrs Wortley, a mother of four who has six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren – and whose nephew is Labor upper house politician Russell Wortley – was earlier forced to have her daughter drive her to hospital because of an ambulance shortage.

The story emerged on a Facebook post from the Premier, wishing South Australians a happy Mother’s Day.

Mrs Wortley’s outraged family have called on SA Health to “get it right” and provide adequate waiting facilities for sick patients who are instead made to wait in an outdoor “carport” without heating.

In contrast, they say nurses are provided with a heated marquee as they wait to assess ill adults and children.

Mrs Wortley’s daughter-in-law, Lili Csongrady, told The Advertiser that she was “enraged”.

She said doctors only paid attention after her husband, Craig, complained.

“They were there shivering in the cold because there was no room in emergency,” said Mrs Csongrady.

“Get it right. This is not hard, it is not hard to ask. If they can do it for nurses surely they can make a comfortable area for sick patients.”

SA Health’s live ED monitoring system showed the Lyell McEwin, at Elizabeth Vale, was declared at Code White, meaning that all treatment rooms were full.

It also had the longest average waiting times, with patients having to wait more than three hours.

Bureau of Meteorology records show the temperature was below 12C.

Mrs Csongrady, an executive assistant from the Adelaide Hills, said the family was about to eat out as a family for Mother’s Day when her sister-in-law Gail arrived at Mrs Wortley’s home.

She had fallen but an emergency operator said there wasn’t an ambulance available and they should drive themselves to the nearby hospital.

They arrived at the hospital just after 6pm and were not taken inside until well after 8pm. The family brought a dressing gown and scarf.

They say staff failed to provide a wheelchair and forced her to keep taking Covid rapid antigen tests.

Liberal health spokeswoman Ashton Hurn said the fact that the health system was seeing a situation like this before peak winter was troubling.

“Labor said they had a plan for health and have claimed they have already made progress but what we are seeing and hearing challenges the spin,” she said.

“Anyone with elderly or vulnerable family members would be rightly worried to hear of this case especially when the family gave up waiting for an ambulance and transported their loved one, yet were still forced to wait outside for hours.”

The SA Ambulance Service has been contacted for comment.

Originally published as Patients forced to wait outside Lyell McEwin Hospital’s emergency department in the cold