Queensland man dies after waiting harrowing 26 hours in emergency department in Ipswich Hospital

A former nurse says he is ‘disgusted’ after his dad died following a 26-hour wait to be treated for a heart attack in a Queensland hospital.

A former nurse has vowed to “fight to the bitter end” to force change to Queensland’s beleaguered health system after his father died following a 26-hour wait in an emergency department.

Neville Clayton died less than a week after he endured several heart attacks amid a harrowing wait at Ipswich Hospital as the state’s bed shortage reaches “crisis” point.

His son, Anthony, who worked as a nurse on the Gold Coast for nearly 30 years, said he was “disgusted” in the state’s health system.

In March, paramedics arrived at the family’s Ipswich home 20 minutes after being called and said Neville would need to be transported more than hour away to the Toowoomba Hospital because the local facility was at capacity.

But before the 67-year-old began the long journey west, an advance care ambulance team arrived and the man was transported to the Ipswich Hospital after protests from the patient’s family, Anthony said.

On arrival at Ipswich, the a family said he waited in excruciating pain for an hour before a doctor admitted him into the emergency department where the long wait to be transferred to the specialist ward began.

RELATED: Victims of Qld’s ‘broken’ health system share their stories

Anthony Clayton, 48, says he’s lost faith in the state’s health system. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Steve Holland

With no coronary care beds available at the facility, Anthony said his dad suffered several smaller heart attacks in the time he waited for dedicated cardiac treatment.

It wasn’t until another patient suffering from a heart condition was transported to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane that a bed became available for Neville on Wednesday afternoon.

Five days after arriving at the hospital, Neville rang his wife in unbearable pain to say it “felt like a horse was laying on my chest”.

She told him she loved him and she would be at the hospital soon to be by his side, but he died 30 minutes after the call.

With the devastating loss still hanging over the family, Anthony said the Claytons were forced to experience the bed shortage crisis again when his brother, Mark, was admitted to the Ipswich Hospital with respiratory complications.

He said Mark was discharged after three days of treatment, but when he was struggling to breathe and his heart rate surged, he was forced back to the hospital for a “lengthy stay to try and recover” from pneumonia.

“Mum was in tears because my brother was put in the same hospital,” Anthony said. “She was worried he was going to die just like dad did in hospital because there was just no care.

“As a nurse, I'm not confident in the health system in Queensland — it’s failing people left, right and centre.

“Politicians say the opposition are using people as scapegoats to say the system is failing; well, the system is failing. They don’t provide the care that’s needed.”

Reports of ambulance ramping in Queensland have plagued the sector for months. Picture: David Clark

A spokesperson for the body responsible for the management of the Ipswich Hospital offered condolences to the Claytons and said they would welcome the opportunity to “sit down and discuss his care”.

West Moreton Health insists Neville received clinical care and monitoring while waiting in the ED.

“The Ipswich Hospital emergency department is equipped with critical care monitoring and staffed by specialists, meaning patients continue to receive quality care within the ED while awaiting transfer to the ward,” the spokesperson told NCA NewsWire.

“If anyone has concerns, complaints or questions about their healthcare, including treatment options and outcomes, we want to hear from them. We improve how we deliver care through the ongoing review of our practices and procedures.”

Anthony applauded the tireless work of doctors and nurses, insisting “I blame the politicians and the health sector for not paying enough attention to these issues”.

“I’m very frustrated that these people are waiting on an ambulance bed or in an emergency room without being treated properly,” he said.

The revelation comes after the state’s Education Minister Grace Grace accused the opposition leader of “making up” stories about failings in the public hospital sector.

She told state parliament last week there was no substance to claims from David Crisafulli and his colleagues that the Palaszczuk government had “lost control” of the system.

“It is a disgrace that they come in here in a world health pandemic making up stories or exaggerating those stories for their cheap political pointscoring,” Ms Grace said.

SAD WAIT FOR CARE

• March 1, 3pm: Clayton family requests ambulance after Neville suffers heart attack
• March 1, 3.20pm: Ambulance arrives and attempts to take patient to Toowoomba before advanced care unit takes Neville to Ipswich Hospital
• March 1, about 4.30pm: Neville seen by doctor and begins long wait in hospital’s emergency department
• March 2, about 6.40pm: Neville is finally admitted to coronary care unit
• March 6, 8am: Neville calls wife complaining of immense chest pain
• March 6, 8.30am: Neville dies.