Perth man suffering painful renal failure had to wait 12 hours to see doctor

A family is demanding answers after their elderly father had to wait 12 hours before he was seen by a doctor at a Perth hospital and was moved to a corridor while suffering the painful effects of renal failure.

John, whose last name has been withheld at the request of the family, was taken to the hospital’s emergency department at midday on Thursday after receiving a note from his GP that he had acute chronic renal failure.

One of the 81-year-old’s daughters’ told Radio 6PR he wasn’t seen by doctors until midnight that night.

“He got seen at midnight. They put him in a bed. They took bloods. They took him for ultrasound and last night apparently they’ve done a CT scan,” she said.

“He was in a bed, he was in a room – and, all of a sudden, he gets taken out of that bed and shoved in a corridor.”

By 12pm on Friday, John’s daughter said he was still sitting in the corridor.

“He’s meant to be admitted … [but] he is still there. He is still in that corridor that they shoved him in last night,” she said.

“I just wanted to put it out there because it’s just disgusting. I couldn’t believe it.”

The practice of “corridor care” at Midland hospital was thrust into the spotlight in March when the family of 88-year-old grandmother Elsie McGribben spent nearly 48-hours in a corridor.

At the time Premier Roger Cook expressed his disappointment at the case but said it was a normal part of hospital care to ensure they could flex up and flex down to meet demand.

As of 2pm on Friday St John of God had 79 patients in the ED and 18 waiting.

The Midland emergency department is smaller than the larger tertiary hospitals like Royal Perth and Sir Charles Gairdner, which had 87 and 81 patients in ED respectively.

John’s experience comes just a week after St John of God Midland opened 60 new beds and three surgical theatres, as well as the opening of a new 123-bed private hospital.

Last week Health Minister Meredith Hammat said it was a significant capacity injection, ensuring Western Australians can access the health care they need, when they need it.

St John of God Midland and Hammat were approached for further comment.

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Hamish Hastie is WAtoday’s state political reporter and the winner of five WA Media Awards, including the 2023 Beck Prize for best political journalism.Connect via X or email.AdvertisementAdvertisement