‘Lost my faith in the system’: Mum left in Liverpool hospital ED for 55 hours
A Sydney hospital has apologised after a mother of three spent 55 hours in emergency so sick she could barely stand, before being ushered out with Covid with a cannula in her arm. But the Health Minister is adamant she received ‘appropriate care’.
A Sydney hospital has apologised to a mum who spent 55 hours in its emergency department “so sick she could barely walk” – only to be rushed out the door without proper treatment for her symptoms.
Anika Saad, 32, spent more than two days in Liverpool Hospital’s emergency department last week waiting for a bed, after suffering from severe flu symptoms which had become so bad she couldn’t tolerate food, water or even stand up.
Her treatment has reignited scrutiny over hospital delays in Sydney’s southwest, where figures show 30 per cent of patients at Liverpool Hospital are not being treated within clinically recommended time frames.
According to the latest Bureau of Health Information data, patients at Liverpool Hospital waited four hours and 29 minutes to be treated and discharged from the ED between April and June – well above the NSW average, but significantly less than the time Ms Saad spent waiting for care.
“I’m a mum, I have three kids, I’ve got a good pain tolerance, but I was just so sick the hospital felt like the only option,” Ms Saad told The Saturday Telegraph.
“The doctors initially thought I had bacterial meningitis and they did a lumbar puncture in the emergency department.
“It was so painful, and even the doctors were saying I should be in a bed, but I was moved back to a chair in the ED.”
At hour 40 in the hospital, nurses decided she should be tested for Covid – which returned a positive result. To her surprise, Ms Saad, was not moved away from other patients, or even offered a mask.
“It was only when I asked for a mask that they gave me one. No one offered me one, they just kept me sitting there.”
Ms Saad said after 55 long hours in the ED she was marched out of the hospital by a nurse, who had put her belongings in a garbage bag, a cannula still in her hand.
“I was crying, I didn’t want to go, I was so sick,” she said.
“I had to go back inside and ask them to take my cannula out.
“I asked for the discharge papers so I knew what was wrong and they said ‘oh you’ve already been removed from the system, we can’t give you any paperwork’.
“I just completely lost my faith and trust in the healthcare system.”
Still severely unwell after she was made to leave the hospital, she was rushed to Campbelltown Hospital via ambulance last Saturday night after collapsing at her home.
“I could not stop vomiting … my husband was so worried he called an ambulance and I did not want to go to hospital because I was so traumatised,” she said.
“But at Campbelltown things were much better, they admitted me and isolated me, gave me IV and waited until I started feeling better before I could leave – it was exactly what should have happened from the beginning.”
In a statement, a Liverpool Hospital spokesman apologised for Ms Saad’s treatment.
The spokesman also admitted her experience after testing positive for Covid was not in line with NSW Health policies around positive patients, who should be “isolated as much as possible”.
“We sincerely apologise to the patient for the amount of time they spent in the emergency department while receiving care at Liverpool Hospital,” they said.
“Our ED is one of the busiest in Australia and continues to experience high levels of demand, with a significant number of patients requiring complex care and admission.”
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said it was “very disappointing” for patients to wait “longer than … expected” for treatment. But he was adamant that Ms Saad received “clinically appropriate care”.
Opposition health spokeswoman Kellie Sloane was less forgiving.
“These heartbreaking stories are becoming far too common, and they point to a health system in crisis,” Ms Sloane said.
“Our emergency department staff are working incredibly hard under very difficult circumstances, but the ongoing delays in treatment are unacceptable and need proper scrutiny.”
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