Maitland Hospital: Issues laid bare at state’s newest ED as doctor’s admit ‘we have a crisis’

Internal documents and patient horror stories have revealed the desperate state of affairs at the state’s newest emergency department as doctor’s declared a “crisis”.

The new Maitland Hospital opened January 2022. Picture: Supplied.

Internal documents and patient horror stories have revealed the desperate state of affairs at the state’s newest hospital at Maitland, with staff shortages and mammoth wait times leading to one senior doctor to admit: “we have a crisis”.

The $470m Maitland Hospital, which first opened in January 2022, has been hit by skyrocketing wait times due to a lack of staff and beds, especially in the emergency department.

Leaked documents reveal doctors anger at having no choice but to deliver “suboptimal care” due to a lack of funding.

According to the latest Bureau of Health Information data, Maitland saw 2481 emergency admissions leave the hospital without treatment between July and September last year – the highest figure in NSW.

There was an 83 per cent rise in walkouts from the same period in 2021, in which Maitland Hospital operated from its former site.

Across NSW, about 60,000 people walked out of hospital emergency departments before receiving care between July and September last year, up by 87 per cent compared with the same period 12 months earlier.

“Disaster from start to finish”

Maitland resident Carl Millett rushed his wife Kate to the ED when she required surgery on a broken leg. They were waiting for seven hours before a bed was found and described the experience as “a disaster from start to finish”.

“We were sitting next to an elderly lady who was having seizures and vomiting, people were trying to give her their spot in the line,” Mr Milett said.

A surgery slot, however, didn’t open up for another few days and post-surgery Ms Millet’s bed was lost and she was discharged. They headed to a private hospital when complications arose that night.

Those who spoke to NewsLocal said it was not the fault of existing staff, but a sheer lack of staff and space. Picture: Warren Lynam

“The doctor said: ‘I’ve been on the phone with your surgeon (from Maitland) and he’s asked me to apologise to you, he said he had been looking for you in the ward and was wondering where you were’,” Mr Millet said.

“All this money spent on a new hospital – it’s been horrendous.”

“We have a crisis”

At the most recent hospital staff council meeting in April 2022, Maitland’s doctors slammed a budget-over-patient approach and said the “hospital (was) in a current crisis”.

“Maitland is not staffed because it costs money the organisation is not willing to spend,” one doctor said at the meeting, leaked minutes reveal.

“The discharge pressure is so high, we are doing unmitigated high-risk discharges, and the organisation wanting us to do more of that is prone to increase risk.”

(Generic picture) In documents seen by NewsLocal, Maitland doctors described the hospital “in crisis”.

Another doctor’s opinion was simply: “we have a crisis”.

“I have people admitted under me in the ambulance bay, it’s suboptimal care,” they said.

“Our bed capacity, lack of critical-care units, unopened wards and ICU functional level are all crisis situations.”

The minutes also reveal there was a 1200 per cent increase in complaints about the ED when services moved to the new hospital site. A “hospital crisis statement” had been devised by staff to be provided to media, which was never released.

“The Medical Staff Council of Maitland Hospital believes that it is in a crisis in terms of operation funding and staffing, and this is reflected in operational wait times,” the statement read.

“It’s failed”

About 30km away in Cessnock, residents often go to Maitland for emergency care given the town’s own hospital has no ED and now relies heavily on telehealth due to a shortage of GPs across the area.

“I was in the waiting room for eight hours having seizures, which was not a fun experience for anyone,” resident Emily Wells said.

Ms Wells was still having seizures when she was discharged into the care of her elderly dad.

“He had just gone through a palliative care experience with my mum, and now he’s seeing his daughter having seizures without any hint of knowing what to do,” she said.

Cessnock resident Emily Wells. Picture: Supplied

Ms Wells was at pains to emphasise the issues she experienced wasn’t due to the hardworking staff, rather a sheer lack of staff and available beds.

“Maitland wasn’t opened with what it should have, it’s failed, to be honest,” Ms Wells said.

Cessnock resident Emma Bowen was left waiting for 12 hours alongside her four-month-old daughter, whose oxygen levels were low due to a virus.

Cessnock resident Emma Bowen. Picture: Supplied

“When it got to 11:30pm I asked who was in front of us and we got told only two, but one department was shutting at midnight, so everyone on that list would come over to ours,” she said.

“My other child got sick not too long after, but after that experience at Maitland I took him to John Hunter, and we were straight home after two hours.

“They’ve got more rooms and wards at Maitland, but can’t use them because they just don’t have the staff.”

“A gamble on people’s on lives”

Maitland’s state Labor MP Jenny Aitchison said staff and residents had come to her in tears.

“I understand the pressures on health workers – it kills me when I talk to them about the hospital,” she said.

“They’re so dedicated, and I’ve had them in my office crying because of the stress they are under.”

The hospital held an one-year anniversary ceremony in February which Ms Aitchison called “bittersweet”.

Maitland state MP Jenny Aitchison. Picture: Joel Carrett

“I’m so proud of our community, who fought and won a new public hospital, and I can see all the effort being put in by health workers,” she said.

“Everyone is putting in the effort, but they just need more staff, more people on the ground.”

Cessnock Labor MP Clayton Barr said he received complaints “from day one”.

“As soon as the new hospital opened it seemed to be under-resourced and not built to cope with the volume,” he said.

Mr Barr said walkouts and early discharges were “troubling”.

“Whether it’s been said aloud or quietly, people have been discharged in a condition they should not have been,” he said.

“We’re asking people instead to use Dr Google, put up with an injury, not come or leave the ED – we’re taking a punt, a gamble on people’s lives.”

Cessnock NSW MP Clayton Barr.

About 12,000 patients attended Maitland's ED between July and September last year.

A Hunter New England Local Health District spokeswoman said it was a “challenging period” as “winter illnesses and ongoing furloughing of staff” placed pressure on the system.

“We strive to provide all our patients with high-quality and timely health care, and apologise for any delays experienced as Maitland Hospital continues to see sustained demand for emergency care,” she said.

“Strategies are in place to minimise wait times, including staffing and capacity improvements, opening additional treatment spaces and offload beds, increasing allied health resources and working with private partners to treat non-urgent patients where appropriate.

“It (the hospital) has the same level of services and staffing as the old campus, with more beds and treatment spaces that will come online in future as needed.”

Table data from the Bureau of Health Information’s most recent quarterly figures, from July – September 2022. The percentage increase is between the latest quarter and the same quarter the previous year.

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