HEDLAND MOTHER'S PAIN AND HUMILIATION AT RPH

An Aboriginal woman in severe pain had to wait seven hours for a bed in a Perth hospital, even though she had just been transferred from another hospital in the Pilbara.

Kyrene Clinch was air lifted from Hedland Health Campus on May 14 for urgent bone cancer surgery.

She arrived at Royal Perth Hospital at 7pm, only to find her paper work had not been sent from Hedland.

She was not given a bed until 2am, whereupon she had to use a pan toilet.

To make matters worse, hospital staff forgot to draw the curtain between her and a male patient, and she could not attract their attention.

An RPH spokesperson said In mixed-gender wards, every effort is made to ensure patient privacy. 

“Sorry if we did not meet your expectations and we will strive to do better,” she said.

“When a patient is transferred to RPH, it does take some time to process them and ensure appropriate tests are undertaken and processes followed.

“We apologise if Ms Clinch believed the time taken was too long.”