"System Failure in Emergency Department"

I am writing to lodge a formal and urgent complaint regarding the appalling treatment my elderly parents received at Fiona Stanley Hospital Emergency Department. What occurred was distressing, inhumane, and seemingly reflective of a serious failure in the duty of care owed to vulnerable patients within our public health system.

My elderly parent, in excruciating pain (self-rated 10/10), presented to the Emergency Department accompanied by my elderly relative. Wanting to avoid using an ambulance, I dropped them off myself. Upon arrival, they were advised of an 8.5-hour wait. My parent was given a single Panadol and, for the next 6.5 hours, they remained seated in hard plastic chairs without any meaningful medical care or compassion. Their pain rating of 10/10 appeared to carry no weight.

There was minimal visible nursing presence in the waiting area. Interactions from both clerical and nursing staff were robotic and devoid of empathy. The only people who offered genuine support were two elderly hospital volunteers. While I don’t fully blame the staff, who seemed overwhelmed by the pressures of their environment, the lack of care was alarming. A homeless person lay outside the hospital doors from 8pm until we left close to 11pm—unnoticed and ignored.

We witnessed multiple examples of what I feel to be neglect. An elderly patient in visible agony arrived in a wheelchair, pushed by their relative. They sat silently crying for hours. My relative, a retired nurse, assisted them into the only soft chair available. No staff approached them. Over 10 hours later, we overheard their diagnosis: multiple pelvic fractures and widespread, untreatable cancer. This poor patient was left in extreme pain without pain relief for over six hours in the waiting area and another three in the ED. I felt it was a cruel and inhumane situation that has traumatised my relative.

Around 10 hours later, I noticed my parent’s blood pressure was 189/70. When I raised this with a nurse behind the glass panel, I was casually told, that’s okay, it’s normal—a response I know to be medically questionable. We were later told a “critical incident” had occurred and staff were taken off the floor for a debrief lasting nearly two hours. During this time, no one was available to assess or administer pain relief. I understand the importance of supporting staff, but the lack of contingency planning during such events is unacceptable. Another patient in the waiting area was vomiting loudly and repeatedly for an extended period. It was deeply distressing to witness, especially knowing no one appeared available to assist them.

An hour later, a specialist (who happened to be nearby) reviewed my parent and diagnosed a urethral blockage from a kidney stone, along with large stones in both kidneys. They advised that urgent surgery involving stent placement would be required that night or first thing the following morning. At this point, my parent had been without food for nearly 24 hours and was taken off their essential heart medications and blood thinners in preparation.

However, no surgery occurred that night. On the following morning, a registrar visited and began asking questions. When I politely requested that my parent’s cardiologist be consulted, they dismissively replied, we are far too busy to be making calls, so that is not going to happen. Their attitude was entirely inappropriate and unprofessional, in my opinion. Despite being told the surgery was imminent, the entire day passed with no further action.

By 11pm that night—after three days without food and two days off medication—I contacted the Aishwarya Care line and demanded my parent be given food. Only then, at 11:30pm, was my parent served a light meal, only to fast again at midnight. Surgery finally occurred on the following morning. The toll on their health and wellbeing from this ordeal was entirely avoidable.

The only positive part of this experience was the excellent nursing care in Ward 6B pre- and post-surgery. The staff there were professional, compassionate, and a credit to the hospital. I am sincerely grateful to them.

However, the trauma, apparent neglect, and suffering my parent endured in the Emergency Department was disgraceful. This is not the first time we have witnessed substandard care at Fiona Stanley Hospital but its the first time we have the energy to put something in writing. Elderly, frail patients deserve better. Infect, everyone deserves better! Our health system must be held to account when such fundamental failures occur. I feel it is broken in the ED at FSH.

I urge your office to investigate this matter thoroughly and ensure that no other family endures what we did. Vulnerable patients must be treated with dignity, urgency, and compassion—values that were glaringly absent during this ordeal. I will also be writing to the Minister and HaDSCO.

I respectfully request that this complaint be fully investigated, and a formal written response be provided addressing the following points:

1. The unacceptable delays in treatment and provision of pain relief in the Emergency Department.

2. The absence of clinical leadership and nursing presence in the Emergency Department when triaging and caring for patients - while sitting for extremely long periods in the waiting area.

3. The unprofessional and dismissive behaviour of professional staff.

4. The lack of adequate seating and comfort for elderly patients enduring severe pain and required to wait in the waiting room for 8+ hours or more.

5. The hospital’s contingency protocols during “critical incidents” and how patient care is safeguarded during these times.

6. The systemic measures being implemented to prevent such failures in the ED in the future.