"Distressing Experience on the Orthopaedic Ward"

Story:

My elderly parent was admitted to Campbelltown Hospital Orthopaedic Ward in July 2025 after major surgery at another hospital. Sadly, their time there left us deeply distressed as a family.

Some of the most troubling experiences included:

•When my parent asked for their prescribed medication (Endone), a doctor asked if my parent was an alcoholic. This was offensive and showed they hadn’t even read my parent's file. When I challenged this, they told me they were the only one looking after all these patients, but being overworked is not an excuse for poor judgment.

•During a handover, nurses referred to patients as “pig” and “witch” instead of using bed numbers — language no patient or family should ever hear.

•The orthopaedic team spoke about sending my parent home or to respite without considering their new lymphoma diagnosis. When I raised this, I was told the team were busy and would come back later. They never did. I eventually had to contact another hospital myself to get haematology involved.

•My parent was supposed to receive protein supplements for nutrition, prescribed at two per day. These were delayed for four days, meaning my parent missed around eight doses. And because my parent wasn’t reviewed by a dietitian in time, they were instead given a full diet that was not appropriate for their needs. During this period my parent lost weight, dropping from 39kg to 35kg.

•Physiotherapy staff told my parent they would need to walk three hours a day to go home. My parent explained they were too weak, but their file only recorded that my parent was “unable to do intense physio” — leaving out that weakness and seemingly malnutrition were the reason.

•At 1:39am one morning, I received a missed call. When I called the ward at 9:40am, the nurse reassured me that my parent was fine, that the hospital only calls families when it’s urgent, that nothing had been mentioned during handover, and even suggested it might have been a scam call. I was told my parent had eaten breakfast and walked to the bathroom. Later, I found out through my cousin’s visit that the truth was very different — my parent had a fever, required a blood transfusion, had not eaten, and was too weak to walk.

All of this happened while our family was already under stress from their new cancer diagnosis. We understand staff are under pressure, but being busy is not an excuse for neglect or poor communication.

What was most painful is that I eventually had to go outside the hospital and ask our local MP to intervene before my parent received the care they needed. Families should not have to go to politicians to secure safe, appropriate hospital care.

I am sharing this story so lessons are learned and no other family has to go through what we did. Patients and families deserve care that is safe, respectful, and coordinated.