Flinders Medical Centre patient left sobbing after stressed nurse yells over toilet plea

Katie needed help going to toilet instead she was yelled at and left sobbing in a hospital bed exposing the brutal reality of a health system at breaking point.

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A wheelchair-bound mum was left sobbing in a hospital bed after an exhausted nurse yelled at her when she asked for help using the toilet — exposing the brutal reality of a health system at breaking point.

Katie, from Marion, was admitted to Flinders Medical Centre in South Australia on Thursday, July 3 with influenza A, severe chest pain and fevers.

She also lives with emphysema and congenital heart disease, and gets around in a wheelchair.

Soon after arriving in an ambulance, she was given diuretics to flush fluid from her lungs and heart — medication that was causing her to urinate frequently.

Katie needed help using the toilet but was left crying after a nurse at Flinders Medical Centre yelled at her. Picture: Supplied

Her support worker assisted with toileting throughout the day, but when her shift ended at 6pm, she handed over to hospital staff and explained Katie would need regular help using the bedpan.

But when Katie rang the bell later that night, she says she was left waiting more than 90 minutes.

When a nurse eventually arrived, Katie says she was snapped at when she asked for help and got upset.

Katie, who uses a wheelchair, says she was kept in the ‘airlock’ outside the respiratory ward for two days. Picture: Supplied

She was then transferred to the maternity ward due to a bed shortage at Flinders Medical Centre. Picture: Supplied

“She said there had been a MET call and she was busy, and that she was upset from the other patients,” Katie said.

“She told me it was ‘just a pan’ and she had a right to refuse especially when she was sick.”

Katie says the nurse also raised her voice, told her not to drink so much water, and left after saying she “doesn’t have time for sh*t”.

The ordeal left her humiliated, stranded, and still needing to go.

By 2am, Katie had a panic attack and called both her daughter and a support line. Her support worker also contacted the hospital directly, asking staff to assist her.

Katie acknowledged the nurse may have been under pressure due to high workload and ramping issues, but said the way she was spoken to was still unfair and deeply upsetting.

“I was crying for an hour,” she said. “I can’t go to the toilet on my own and when I’m that sick, the meds make it constant. It’s not something I can control.”

Ambulances at the Flinders Medical centre. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

Katie said that after being admitted to hospital, she was left in an ‘airlock’ by the respiratory ward for two days before being moved to the maternity ward due to a lack of space.

She said the airlock saw constant foot traffic, and being left there at times with barely any clothes on due to her fever made her feel exposed, “like being on show, like a zoo animal.”

“I begged them not to put me back in there,” she said. “I had chest pain, I was burning up with fever.”

Southern Adelaide Local Health Network CEO, Kerrie Mahon said Flinders Medical Centre has very clear guidelines for patient treatment spaces.

“(Kate) presented with Influenza A and was treated in the respiratory ward according to best practice infection control measures,” she said.

“(She) was treated in an isolation room to avoid the transmission of viruses and received clinically appropriate and professional care by clinical staff.

“Female patients may be treated in the Maternity and Gynaecological Ward if appropriate, with care provided by appropriately trained health professionals as they would be in other inpatient wards in SALHN.


“SALHN welcomes consumer feedback and patients are always welcome to contact the Consumer Advisory Service on 8204 5433 or mailto:[e-mail].”

Originally published as Flinders Medical Centre patient left sobbing after stressed nurse yells over toilet plea