Nurses union plea for help after 70yo pictured sleeping on floor at Sydney hospital

A nurse at one of Australia’s busiest hospitals has made a desperate plea after disturbing images were revealed.

A nurse at one of NSW’s busiest hospitals says staff are “burnt out” amid an unprecedented winter surge, after “frightening” images were released of a 70-year-old man lying on the floor.

The photos, posted to Facebook by the man’s daughter Hayley Leatham, show 70-year-old Raymond lying down behind a row of chairs at Blacktown Hospital with a bag under his head.

“This is the sad reality of our public health system and emergency waiting times and lack of beds,” Ms Leatham said.

“My dad is (a) 70-year-old man on the floor waiting for blood transfusions with extremely life-threatening low level haemoglobin levels.

“I have the most respect for our nurses and doctors, but this is truly heartbreaking to see.”

Ms Leatham told 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Tuesday morning that her father had been forced to wait more than 24 hours at the busy western Sydney hospital after experiencing severe diarrhoea.

A 70-year-old man was forced to lie on the floor while waiting at Blacktown Hospital. Picture: Facebook / Hayley Leatham

“There were red flags because the 70-year-old has a history of diabetes and hypertension,” Fordham said.

“Despite his condition, Raymond went without a hospital bed for a period of 24 hours.

“He was in so much pain he had to lay on the emergency department floor.”

A Western Sydney Local Health District spokesperson said they had contacted Raymond to apologise for the wait time.

“Raymond has expressed his thanks for the quality of care he received from the hard-working staff at Blacktown Hospital,” the spokesperson said.

“All patients are seen and triaged on arrival at the ED, with the most seriously unwell patients treated first.

“We acknowledge it can be challenging for people when they have to wait longer than tehy expect in an ED, and we thank the community for their patience during periods of high demand.”

NSW Nurses and Midwives Association Blacktown Hospital branch Vice President Jess Kybert was on shift at the hospital Monday night.

She said the situation was the worst it had ever been, as presentations surged during the winter and staff morale suffered.

“Easily, the last four weeks have been the busiest, most chaotic, stressful weeks that I have seen since Covid,” Ms Kybert said.

“We are having beyond record numbers of presentations, we have beyond record numbers of people in our waiting room.

“Our waiting room isn’t built for that many people, and not only that, we don’t have space in the department for that many people.”

Speaking as a member of the union, Ms Kybert said there were some 70 people in the waiting room when she started her shift.

The lowest it ever got to that night, she said, was 26.

Ms Kybert described chaotic scenes, with patients lying on the floor and across chairs – something they are not permitted to do.

“It’s a work, health safety hazard. If there’s a fire, it’s an evacuation hazard,” she said.

“We’re so torn, because we know that they need to sleep, but I can’t provide them any better option because I don’t have a bed.

“There’s no space, and so the horrific thing is the floor becomes the next best option.”

He waited more than 24 hours while in pain. Picture: Facebook / Hayley Leatham

Ms Kybert said a range of issues were affecting Blacktown Hospital, including what she said were inadequate plans for the winter surge.

The surge had resulted in an increased number of people attending the hospital, resulting in a “severe bed block”, Ms Kybert said.

She said, among nurses, “everyone is burnt out”, and while new nurses had started at the hospital, they lacked emergency experience.

Ms Kybert called on the state government to increase funding to the hospital and for nurses, with whom the state has been in protracted negotiations.

The NSWNMA are fighting for a 15 per cent pay for public sector nurses and midwives.

“We have one of the biggest, largest growing populated areas with a hospital that was not built to be big enough for the projected growing area, and an emergency department that cannot cater to the community because we are not big enough,” she said.

“We don’t have the funding and the resources to support our community, with the number of people coming through.

In 2024, the state government offered a baseline 10.5 per cent increase over three years, but the deal was rejected.

NSW Premier Chris Minns admitted the state did not deserve a ‘gold star’. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

Blacktown Hospital photo ‘must shake everyone to the core’

NSW Liberal leader Mark Speakman said the man being left on the floor “must shake everyone to the core”.

“The image of a 70-year-old with severe diarrhoea, a long term history of diabetes and hypertension, and life-threatening low haemoglobin levels is something that should shock everyone,” he said.

“It’s a frightening image of a hospital in crisis and a hospital system in crisis.”

Mr Speakman called on the state government to consider a “special injection” at Blacktown Hospital.

“This is affecting residents right across northwestern Sydney,” he said.

“It needs special a special treatment.”

The Opposition leader accused Premier Chris Minns of seeking to blame the former Coalition government.

“Chris Minns likes to point the finger at others and blame us, in particular,” he said.

“This morning on breakfast radio, he had a bizarre comparison with privatisation.

“Whatever happened at one hospital on the Northern Beaches has absolutely nothing to do with the deterioration of hospital performance on Chris Minns’ watch in Western Sydney.”

Speaking later to Fordham, Mr Minns admitted the images were “obviously distressing”, noting stress to the family, but lay much of the blame at the former Coalition government.

He accused the former Liberal-Nationals state government of underinvesting in western Sydney hospitals.

“When you go to an emergency department to get the best kind of health care possible, you don’t want to be in a situation where you have to wait that amount of time,” Mr Minns said.

“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.”

The Blacktown LGA is the largest by population in the state. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

Mr Minns admitted the state government did not “deserve a gold star”.

“I recognise that we’ve got an enormous challenge in front of us, and I’m certainly not looking for a lap of honour,” he said.

“But, what I am saying to you is, it would be ruinous for the public health system in NSW to go back to the old model of privatisation, a wages cap, and an underinvestment in western Sydney.”

Mr Minns said the number of patients being treated during clinically recommended times at Blacktown Hospital had increased from 30 to 40 per cent under the Labor state government.

He also spruiked promises to install 60 new beds at Blacktown and Mt Druitt hospitals as well as funding for the much-delayed Rouse Hill and renovated Bankstown hospitals.

Those pledges did little to temper criticism from opposition health spokeswoman Kellie Sloane, who told Fordham it was “pretty shocking” to see the images out of Blacktown.

“This should not be happening in our hospitals,” she said.

Opposition health spokeswoman Kellie Sloane said it was ‘pretty shocking’ to see the images out of Blacktown Hospital. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

“Patients at Blacktown sleeping on the floor because there simply aren’t enough beds.

“I‘m terribly sad for this gentleman and his family, decent people paying tax their entire lives, and when they’re at the most vulnerable and sick, our system has let them down.”

The Vaucluse MP said the situation was not a reflection on the staff and doctors at Blacktown Hospital, who she claimed had been “ringing alarm bells” about long hospital delays.

“We need solutions at Blacktown,” she said.

“It is one of the poorest performing hospitals in the west of Sydney.

“It ranks 20th out of the 20 hospitals of its category in terms of dealing with people coming into the emergency department.

“We have to do something.”

A Western Sydney Local Health District spokesperson said anyone with an illness or injury that was not life-threatening was encouraged to call healthdirect on 1800 022 222 to access free 24-hour telephone health advice.

A registered nurse will assess the patient’s condition and discuss the best place for their care, including a nearby urgent care centre, doctor, pharmacist, or specialist virtual care.

Originally published as Nurses union plea for help after 70yo pictured sleeping on floor at Sydney hospital