Man who died after hours on stretcher ‘should never have remained ramped’
By Tim Arvier
Paramedics repeatedly raised the alarm about a man who waited for hours on an ambulance stretcher at a Queensland hospital last week, before he suffered a heart attack and died.
Leaked emails obtained by Nine News show paramedics escalated their concerns to hospital bosses, with a senior doctor later declaring the patient “should never have remained ramped”.
The 78-year-old man was suffering a diabetic complication when he was taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital last Tuesday afternoon, where he was triaged and ramped at 4.43pm – but paramedics were worried.
According to the emails, “the ramped paramedic crews completed forms which indicated the patient’s deterioration” and “escalated these concerns to the hospital triage and team leader”.
Nearly two hours later, about 6.30pm, he was moved from the ramp to a bed in the resuscitation area. Within five minutes he suffered a heart attack and was placed on life support, later dying.
The emails, written after the incident, also show paramedics’ concerns about their patient’s worsening condition “were escalated on multiple occasions”.
The patient was suffering a diabetic complication when he was taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital, where he was triaged and ramped for nearly two hours.Credit: Bradley Kanaris / Getty Images
The case prompted Queensland Ambulance Medical Director Dr Stephen Rashford to write to other health bosses, noting the patient’s “adult deterioration detection system score” was 3.
“Based upon [that score], this patient should never have remained ramped,” Rashford wrote.
“The fact a transfer of care was considered by the hospital is even more concerning … this case requires local escalation asap so the hospital can review their performance.”
According to a Gold Coast Health spokesperson the patient was triaged appropriately and assessed immediately on arrival at the emergency department.
“Initially, the patient was under the care of ambulance paramedics inside the hospital,” they said.
“At Gold Coast Health, no patients are left in the back of an ambulance. This patient was under the care of our hardworking ED and (intensive care unit) teams for more than 11 hours before they sadly passed away.
“The patient was in a bed at the time they suffered a medical episode and received immediate emergency care.”
Before the case was revealed, the state’s LNP opposition was already calling for Health Minister Shannon Fentiman to be sacked.
“Shannon Fentiman can invent new metrics, wash the data and change the narrative – but that won’t change the fact ambulance ramping in Queensland is the worst in the nation and under Fentiman it is now the worst in history,” Opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates said.
Premier Steven Miles said Queensland Health was performing better on some measures, but he acknowledged “there continues to be challenges in reducing the ‘patient off stretcher’ time”.
“That’s in part driven, or actually all driven, by a massive increase in the criticality of patients, or higher acuity patients, but also just more of them,” Miles told reporters on Monday.
In response to Bates’ comments, Miles said the LNP had a history of sacking people “but that’s not the solution in Queensland Health”.
“And I proudly stand by the work of our health minister,” Miles said.
The issue will be raised in question time when parliament resumes on Tuesday.
correction
An earlier version of this story said the patient had remained in the ambulance. He remained in the care of paramedics, on an ambulance stretcher inside the hospital, before being transferred to a hospital bed.