Kathie Schramm’s Royal Hobart Hospital death: Mural shines light on ramping tragedy

For Kathie Schramm’s children, this bright mural means honour and dignity: Something their beloved mum did not have in her final hours while ramped at Royal Hobart Hospital.

Rebecca and Elizabeth Schramm with the artwork in tribute to their mum Kathie. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

FOR many passers-by, a striking graffiti painting of a smiling grey-haired woman in an orange Hawaiian shirt is just another colourful artwork to adorn a Hobart laneway.

But for the children of Kathie Schramm, it means honour and dignity: Something their beloved mum did not have in her final hours while ramped at Royal Hobart Hospital.

When her daughters called an ambulance for the 80-year-old Lindisfarne woman suffering severe abdominal pain on November 22, nothing could prepare them for the trauma they’d be facing hours later – something Rebecca Schramm said was “like something from World War One”.

Hobart woman Kathleen Schramm, 80.

“It’s only been two weeks since my mother’s death and she could have just been another statistic, but people need to realise I’m still extremely traumatised by what I went through at the hospital,” Rebecca said.

“It was a horrible way for someone to die, after living such a full and good life. My mother wasn’t old. Yes she was 80 but she was still fit, had a full driver’s licence and lived by herself.

“When we rang an ambulance, we thought when she went in (to the RHH) she was going to be cared for but there was no duty of care, she was ramped, left alone with no doctor or diagnosis or intravenous pain relief, nothing.”

Rebecca said when she arrived at the RHH emergency department, staff couldn’t tell her or her sister Elizabeth where their mum was because she wasn’t in the system.

“She was in that meeting room, in between the ambulances and the ER, dying and screaming for help,” Rebecca said.

“When someone finally took me through the other side of the hospital through a maze of a corridor to get to the ramping room, my mum was crying and in so much pain and by herself.

“I spent the next half an hour pleading for someone to help her.

“But then she just looked at me, said ‘I can’t do it anymore’ and she slipped away in my arms.”

Street artist Topsk has been painting the laneways around Hobart for the better part of 30 years and this particular artwork was extremely personal.

Hobart artist Topsk1 has painted a mural in honour of Kathie Schramm. Photo: Supplied

“She was my son’s grandmother,” he said of Kathie.

The vibrant piece of art took the Hobart creative two days, which he finished in time for the beloved grandmother’s funeral.

“I asked the family where they’d like the mural and they said Bidencopes Lane so the very large amount of aunties and cousins and nieces and nephews could see it when they came to town from all over for her funeral,” Topsk said.

Daughter Elizabeth said the laneway mural was “keeping Mum’s memory alive”, with her children and grandchildren having the opportunity to take photos with it.

“It’s a celebration that’s come out of something so sad,” Elizabeth said.

“It’s a beautiful piece to help us in our grieving process and also raise awareness that this is happening and we need to do something about it. Let’s keep talking about this and do something about our health system so this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

The Royal Hobart Hospital.

‘Ramping’ is when patients are cared for by paramedics in ambulances or dedicated hospital waiting areas before their admission when emergency departments are too busy to see them right away.

But Rebecca says what happened on Tuesday, November 22 should make it clear something has to change with our public health system – and soon.

“You might expect what happened to Mum during times of crisis like wars, but we shouldn’t expect this on a normal day in our hospitals,” she said.

“It was honestly like being in a World War One horror film. The worst part is she was right where she needed to be.”

Rebecca Schramm and Elizabeth Schramm with the artwork in tribute to their mum Kathie. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Rebecca said she “wasn’t given any help or counselling” in the minutes, days or weeks after her mum slipped away and was forced to deal with her death so clinically.

“She didn’t have the dignity to die the way she should have done, we had to go through police and coroners because she wasn’t accepted into the hospital,” Rebecca said.

“The doctor who came to declare her dead asked where her wristband was and (was shocked) when I told him she hadn’t seen a doctor.”

Rebecca said Kathie’s heartbroken family “are not going to let this issue die with her” — with a stern final message: “Fix our health system now”.

A Department of Health spokesperson said all presentations to the hospital emergency department were clinically assessed and triaged according to their level of acuity at the time.

“The Royal Hobart Hospital and Ambulance Tasmania are currently reviewing the circumstances around the death of a patient who died in the Emergency Medical Unit on Tuesday 22 November,” the spokesperson said.

“The department reiterates its sincere condolences to the family and friends of this patient.”

The spokesperson also said a Grief and Loss Counselling Service was available at the RHH that provides professional counselling support to people who experience a significant or complex loss associated with an RHH admission in the past 12 months.

“As this is now a matter for the coroner, it would not be appropriate to comment further,” the spokesperson said.