Probe clears hospital of wrongdoing

"He was treated in ED and discharged. No complaint has been received regarding his care." Mike Grant, Midcentral clinical services and transformation general manager

An investigation into why an injured man was left unattended 100 metres from a hospital’s front door for almost an hour has cleared medical staff of any wrongdoing.

The man collapsed in the Palmerston North Hospital car park, but instead of being helped inside he was told to wait for an ambulance.

He was left outside on hot concrete for almost an hour on December 28 until an ambulance arrived.

Public outrage prompted Midcentral DHB chairwoman Dot Mckinnon to call for an investigation into the matter.

That investigation, conducted by the hospital, has found that it did nothing wrong. However it also found that the hospital needed to improve its handling of such incidents in the future.

The man had been on hospital grounds when he dropped to the ground, suffering from back pain, according to a bystander.

The bystander said the man was 100 metres from the front door of the hospital but was told they could not bring a stretcher out to him help him. She was told by staff to call an ambulance.

The hospital defended staff’s actions at the time, saying they would only assist if it was a medical emergency.

Midcentral clinical services and transformation general manager Mike Grant said an investigation found the ‘‘correct course of action was followed’’.

‘‘The man involved required an ambulance to transport him to the emergency department as the incident occurred in one of our outlying carparks.

‘‘He was treated in ED and discharged. No complaint has been received regarding his care.’’

However, Grant acknowledged the hospital needed to make changes.

He did not provide detail on what these changes were beyond introducing ‘‘guidelines to support decision-making’’ when managing medical incidents outside the buildings.

‘‘The review took a service improvement approach and found there were improvements we could make in the way the situation was managed.’’

Mckinnon said she was glad she requested the investigation.

‘‘I am confident the chief executive will follow up with enhanced training and patient care.’’

St John Manawatu operations manager Steve Yanko said limited resources caused the ambulance to take so long.

‘‘There is too much work and not enough staff, it is impossible to be at every call.’’

Yanko said the incident was classed as a non-emergency and they had already been dealing with a cardiac arrest.

‘‘That is just the way it is, I can’t put it in any other words.‘‘

Palmerston North MP Iain Leesgalloway said it was a ‘‘baffling’’ policy for the hospital to have, but if there was a legitimate reason for it, it should be shared with the public.

He said it was possible staff might not have been available to leave the emergency department.

‘‘That would come as no surprise. We know the emergency department is stretched.’’