When Mrs Smith* met her husband’s ambulance at Maitland Hospital after his turn in late 2014, emergency staff reportedly greeted her with the remark: “Thank heavens he has a sensible wife!”
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For 88-year-old Mr Smith* is an old-school gentleman. He doesn’t like to make a fuss. He doesn’t want to be a bother. And being cast as a whinger would probably be a fate almost worse than death.
On that October day he was extremely ill, but didn’t share the extent with his wife immediately. By the time she extracted the truth of his condition, it was almost too late.
Imagine a man of this character listening to his wife endure 20 minutes of questioning the next time she called for help. How he felt waiting another half-hour for an ambulance. The thoughts that went through his mind during seven hours sitting in a wheelchair, waiting to see a doctor. The humiliation when he and his 80-year-old wife were packed off in a cab home at 4 o’clock in the morning.
If Hunter New England Health continues to blame members of our community for misusing its hospital emergency wards and overloading the department, it may unwillingly put the lives of good, responsible folk at risk.
Folk who don’t wish to be a bother. Who don’t like to make a fuss. Who accept there’s always someone who’s worse off, and who would rather die than be cast as a whinger.
Mrs Smith didn’t want special treatment. She didn’t expect medical staff to have a magic wand. But she and her husband are elderly. They were acting on medical advice. And they needed help.
Surely this could have been provided with a bit more empathy.
* Smith is not the couple’s real name.
