Nurse tells of chaos at RBWH in scenes never seen before

The emergency department at Queensland’s largest hospital was a war zone this week, with scenes staff have never witnessed before.

Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital emergency department

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The emergency department at Queensland’s largest hospital resembled a war zone with dozens of sick patients piling up in corridors and burnt-out staff left in tears amid extreme fears someone was going to die.

A whistleblower from inside the besieged Royal Brisbane And Women’s Hospital said the chaotic scenes this week — triggered by a scourge of flu-ravaged patients and staff off sick — were the worst they had ever seen.

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The nurse said at one stage, staff had to place 47 inpatients into a corridor when only seven were in a fit state to be there.

The nurse said staff were afraid one of the patients would die.

The nurse also claimed there were 100 patients in the emergency department on Tuesday night, with a dozen paramedic teams waiting to offload even more.

“The teams of nurses are very good at coming up with plan Bs and making things work but at this stage there are no more plan Bs — no back ups,” the nurse said.

“There is not the capacity to give proper care.

“Old people are falling and hitting their heads as staff can’t be everywhere.

“It’s a frightening situation.

“Tuesday night was something we have never seen before.”

Health Minister Tim Nicholls announced on Wednesday that the RBWH was one of multiple hospitals in the southeast overwhelmed with flu and Covid-19 patients, forcing the cancellation of non-urgent surgery.

The flu spike was described by Mr Nicholls as coming out of the blue.

The nurse claims the hospital has consistently been on tier three – a level when all capacity has been exhausted – for six months and no effort has been made to ease the burden on staff.

They claim staff are constantly working double shifts and are exhausted and overwhelmed.

Health Minister Tim Nicholls. Picture: Liam Kidston

“If there was such a thing as a ‘tier-four disaster situation’, Tuesday night was that,” the nurse said.

In response to the whistleblowers claims, Mr Nicholls issued a statement late on Thursday saying the state government was tackling bed availability by building more hospitals and providing 4500 extra staff over the next 12 months,

“I thank the nurses and clinicians working in emergency departments for doing a great job, turning up in the face of people presenting with the flu and risking themselves catching it as well,” he said.

In another blow to morale, The Courier-Mail can also reveal RBWH staff received an email from the Metro North Hospital and Health Service chief executive stating that due to budget cuts staff would not be provided with catering for meetings.

“That was a kick in the teeth,” the nurse said.

“We are literally killing ourselves working double shifts to give the best care we can and yet staff can’t get a sandwich at a meeting.

“Sometimes that is the only time staff actually get the chance to sit down.”

A Metro North Health spokesman said that the safety and security of patients, staff and visitors was always a top priority.

“Over the last week, we have seen a significant increase in demand for our services, which led to yesterday’s decision to pause non-urgent category two and category three elective surgeries for 48 hours at our acute hospitals. The most urgent, category one surgeries have continued during this time,” he said.

“This pause allows us to create bed capacity for admissions from our emergency departments, including at RBWH.

“We thank the community for their understanding as we navigate this increased demand.

“We appreciate the work of our staff, who continue to provide compassionate care to those who need it in our emergency departments and across our hospitals.”

Originally published as Nurse tells of chaos at RBWH in scenes never seen before