After suffering chest pains, Cherrille Quilty was taken to the Geraldton Hospital emergency department on Saturday afternoon.
Following her arrival test were performed that confirmed Mrs. Quilty was having a heart attack and required an urgent angiogram.
Hospital staff told Mrs Quilty she would be transferred to Sir Gardiner Hospital in Perth to have the scan, but due to flight and ambulance delays, Mrs. Quilty’s transfer could not be facilitated by ambulance or by the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
In what turned out to be a very long wait in a very urgent situation, Mrs. Quilty said that the Western Australian health system is a “bloody disgrace.”
Mrs. Quilty spoke to WAtoday from her hospital bed in Geraldton, where she remained until she was finally transferred to Perth on Monday evening.
WAtoday reported that Mrs. Quilty, a grandmother, was desperate for help. She told the publication:
“The first flight went without me because an accident took priority, which is understandable.”
“The second flight on Saturday evening didn’t have a doctor available,” she said.
“On Sunday night there was a transport issue with St John ambulance.”
“They could have put me in an ambulance with another patient but instead called another ambulance which never arrived because it was called away for another job,” she added.
“It’s now Monday, and I’m still in Geraldton with chest pains and no word on when I will be transferred to Perth.”
Last April, a 75-year-old woman died at Busselton Hospital Health Campus after a three-hour-long wait on the emergency department ramp.
Following the 75-year-old’s death, Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson announced the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death would be thoroughly investigated, and that the WA Government had ordered an investigation into the matter. The investigation was expected to take at least six weeks.
At the time, Libby Mettam Opposition Health Spokesperson also said, ‘there has been warning after warning about what the tragic implications would be for not addressing the ramping crisis.’
