New pictures raise fresh concerns over Blacktown Hospital
Shocking images show a woman connected to a drip sleeping in a car outside a major Sydney hospital after a 24-hour wait for bed.
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New pictures have raised fresh questions about conditions at a major Sydney hospital where patients have been forced to wait 24 hours for a bed.
The images show a woman connected to a drip as she tried to sleep in a car outside Blacktown Hospital, in the city’s west, after hours sitting in the emergency department (ED).
It is the second similar incident revealed by 2GB host Ben Fordham this week, with the NSW opposition’s health spokesperson saying the photos look like a “third world system”.
On Wednesday, Fordham shared another “horror story” from the $700 million hospital, which underwent a major redevelopment from 2012 to 2020.
He said a woman named Anna Marie presented to the ED last week with an obstructed bowel and also waited an entire day for a bed to become available.
“I waited 24 hours at the waiting room because there were no beds,” she said, in a letter to Fordham.
“I witnessed people lying on the floor and bringing in camping chairs to sit down on.
“I was so tired that my husband parked the car out the front of the ED so I could lay down and have a rest.”
A Western Sydney Local Health District spokesperson told news.com.au, “We have contacted Anna-Marie to sincerely apologise for the wait time she experienced at Blacktown Hospital.”
“The health and safety of our patients is our top priority,” the spokesperson said.
“All patients presenting to our ED are seen and triaged on arrival, with the most seriously unwell patients treated first.”
“To help manage demand, Western Sydney Local Health District has additional nursing staff dedicated to the Blacktown ED waiting room to increase clinical oversight, an ED Short Stay Unit to provide short periods of ongoing treatment and observation, and an Urgent Care model that fast tracks management of less urgent patients.”
“Despite sustained high demand for emergency care, nearly three in four patients started treatment on time in NSW (74 per cent), the highest of any other state or territory and well above the national average (67 per cent).”
“We welcome feedback from our patients, carers and consumers at any time and remain committed to listening to and involving them in evaluating our health care services.”
A day earlier, Fordham told listeners that a 70-year-old man resorted to lying on the ED floor at the hospital as he sought treatment for severe diarrhoea.
The man, named Raymond, waited 24 hours for a bed. Another 80-year-old man was also seen lying on the ED floor.
Vaucluse MP Kellie Sloane, the health spokesperson for the NSW opposition, said the images provided of Anna Maria in her car were “shocking”.
“This should not be happening in our hospitals and it is happening all to regularly particularly at Blacktown Hospital,” she said.
Ms Sloane took aim at Premier Chris Minns, who this week accused the former Coalition government of under-investing in western Sydney hospitals.
She said people “sick of the spin” from the Premier, and called for action.
“You just cant believe it is happening in Sydney, in New South Wales,” Ms Sloane said.
“A place where we have one of the best health systems in the world.
“But when you look at this, it looks like a third world system. It’s not good enough.”
Western Sydney Local Health District were contacted for comment.
Staff at Blacktown, which services one of the most populous local government areas in the country, have long voiced concerns about understaffing.
In 2018, under the former state government, workers described the staffing situation as “untenable” and the hospital has dealt with several scandals since.
Up to 20 obstetricians vowed to quit in November 2020 citing staffing and resource issues, following the deaths of four newborn babies there in the previous 18 months.
Mr Minns told Fordham on Tuesday that conditions at Blacktown were “not good enough” and acknowledged there was an “enormous challenge” in front of the government.
“The situation today is not where we need it to be, and we need to do better with the massive investment that we’re putting into health,” he said.
“We’re putting more money into health than any government in the state’s entire history – and that includes parts of the Covid emergency.”
Mr Minns said his government would deliver 60 new beds across Blacktown Hospital and its sister facility at Mount Druitt.
Originally published as New pictures raise fresh concerns over Blacktown Hospital
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