Paramedic's claim about patient dying in hospital corridor rejected

Claims made by a paramedic on talkback radio that a patient died in a corridor at Waikato Hospital recently have been quashed, and Te Whatu Ora has asked the station to correct the misinformation.

National’s health spokesperson Dr Shane Reti has also been forced to acknowledge comments he made in a press release on March 19 citing the interview were incorrect.

A man claiming to be a paramedic rang Newstalk ZB’s Kerre Woodham show on March 17, alleging a patient had died in a corridor at Waikato Hospital's emergency department and the death hadn’t been picked up for two hours.

The caller, Bruce, said he also saw 15 ambulances ramping outside the ED recently.

Woodham asked Bruce during the call if he could "get into trouble" by airing his claims. He responded "yes".

It led to Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand advising Newstalk ZB the statements made were not accurate and asked the radio station to correct promos that followed the show citing the claims.

Te Whatu Ora says Newstalk ZB has received the correction request and would investigate.

NZME has been approached for comment.

A Te Whatu Ora HNZ Waikato spokesperson told 1News if a person had died in a hospital corridor it would become a notifiable incident with police.

“There is significant pressure on healthcare services at this time, including our emergency departments, and we support open discussion of those challenges. However, it is harmful to this discussion when misleading statements are made or promoted.

“There is no record of an unattended patient death in a corridor at Waikato Hospital. This scenario would require referral to the coroner and/or a serious event investigation.

“We are not aware of a recent instance where 15 ambulances were “ramping” at one time. At times when the department is under pressure and a number ambulances present within a short time of each other this does place additional pressure on the department and we have escalation plans in place.

“We have had an increase in budgeted staff over the last two years and we are fully recruited to nursing and senior doctor roles including these additional positions. Further recruitment is underway for a small number of junior doctors to achieve our total budgeted FTE (Full‐time equivalent).

“The average length of stay (time to discharge or admission to inpatient) in Waikato Hospital’s ED for the month of February was 5.37hrs,” the spokesperson said.

Dr Reti cited the Newstalk ZB interview in a press release two days later, saying, “it was distressing to hear in an interview a paramedic servicing Waikato Hospital claim the hospital was so overrun that at one point 15 ambulances were being used as waiting rooms for patients because the emergency department was too full.

“This meant there were no spare ambulances in the region to attend other emergencies.

“Even more worrying is the claim that a patient passed away on a stretcher in the emergency department and was left there for two hours before someone noticed.

“This is appalling and incredibly concerning to hear,” Reti said in his press release.

But he said he would not issue a corrected statement despite seeing Te Whata Ora's response.

“We are pleased to hear that the allegation of a patient death in a corridor at Waikato Hospital proved to be incorrect. However we understand there are a number of ambulances that have been used as waiting rooms.

“The health sector is still facing a crisis. Getting access to timely healthcare is still a massive issue that is going to impact every New Zealander. Wait times for emergency departments, first specialist appointment and surgery are still at record highs, and with winter fast approaching the wait times are only going to continue to balloon,” Reti said.

Hato Hone St John (HHSJ) Ambulance told 1News it works closely with hospital clinical teams to optimise the process of transferring the care of patients to hospital staff.

“New Zealand’s health system undergoes periods of significant pressure. Sporadically, there can be hospital delays that impact this process, resulting in patients being cared for by ambulance staff inside the ambulance for an extended period, or in a nearby space until a bed is available in the emergency department,” said Ross Clarke, Hato Hone St John Ambulance district operations manager for central west.

“HHSJ does not support any practice which results in patients facing long waiting times during the transfer to a hospital as it means it limits our ability to respond to other emergencies, and delays patients from accessing the right care at the right time.

“HHSJ continues to work closely with hospital staff to limit the impact potential delays have on patients and their family/whanāu. We are also actively talking to Te Whatu Ora to address the current system and the effects it can have on patients and our operations ahead of an anticipated increase and demand for our services this winter.”

Clarke said HHSJ always encourages staff transparency.

“We invite any staff or members of the public to contact us directly or through the correct channels about any concerns they may have so that we may fairly discuss and act upon them in the best manner. We take patient confidentiality and the protection of sensitive information very seriously.”

Yesterday, News reported that ambulances are on occasion having to wait up to an hour to drop off patients to hospital - the wait to admit ambulance patients is called ramping.

The latest data from 15 hospitals from Whangārei to Southland show that 3000 ramping hours were recorded in the first quarter of 2019.

That figure had jumped considerably by the last quarter of 2022, which showed ramping hours had risen to 9756.