Aged care resident Allan Sheldon

Aged care resident Allan Sheldon told nursing staff he had chest pain. They gave him Panadol.

A supplied image tendered as evidence of 83-year-old Allan Sheldon at the aged care royal commission by his daughter Rhonda McIntosh. Picture: AAP

In January this year Allan Sheldon was telling everyone in his residential aged care home that he was having a heart attack. For four days he told nurses and care staff about his severe chest pain. They gave him a Panadol and convinced him it was “all in his head.”

Giving evidence to the aged care royal commission on Monday about her 83-year-old father’s “appalling” treatment at his Melbourne nursing home, Rhonda McIntosh said her father was being told he was anxious and paranoid, despite having a history of heart issues including a previous heart attack.

When she saw him, she asked what was going on. “He said I'm having a heart attack, he said I'm having chest pains. I said who are you telling Dad, are you telling the nurses. He said I'm telling everybody, everybody who will come in, everybody I can tell, I'm telling them.”

Ms McIntosh told the commission she insisted Mr Sheldon see a doctor, only to be told by facility staff it was too late on a Friday evening to get a GP to visit the home, and they would have to wait until Monday for one to visit.

She took her father to a GP on Saturday, unassisted by the facility, where the doctor conducted an electrocardiogram and diagnosed a heart attack that was still continuing. An ambulance was called immediately.

Ms McIntosh told the commission her father had been reassured by care staff at his residential care facility that he wasn’t having a heart attack because his blood pressure was normal, but when he was in the hospital they were told heart attacks were still possible while maintaining normal blood pressure, a fact qualified nurses should know.

As the commission this week examines the interconnection between the aged care and health care systems, including how GP services are delivered to people in residential aged care, Ms McIntosh said her family had been “appalled” at his treatment.

“(Dad) should be able to see a doctor when he wants to or when he needs to. He shouldn't have to beg staff for it or he shouldn't have to wait until we're able to advocate for him,” she said.