Worst stroke possible but dad made to wait 6 hours

Aug 18, 2005
FULL HOUSE AT HOSPITALS
Worst stroke possible but dad made to wait 6 hours
I CAN empathise fully with Ms Rodziah Shaari ('Seven-hour wait at SGH for bed for sick dad'; ST, Aug 13).
I had similar encounters in Singapore General Hospital (SGH). My dad was sent to the A&E department three times in two months because of stroke and, each time, my family had to wait at least six hours before he was pushed to a ward.
I can understand that the hospital is short of staff and we have to wait for everything. But to make a patient wait hours for a bed is unforgiveable, especially when the patient is in critical condition.
The third time my dad was taken to SGH was also his last. When I drove him to SGH, he was already paralysed and could not speak. The A&E doctors were quick to attend to him because of the urgency of his condition.
They ordered an immediate scan to see how badly his brain had been affected by the stroke, after which he was left unattended in a corner to await the results.
I could see that my dad was getting weaker as time went by. About two to three hours later, when the results came out, the doctors confirmed that he had suffered a stroke again and had to be admitted.
It took another hour or two for the admission staff to tell us that my dad had to wait as no bed was available in the neurology ward.
When we checked on him in the observation area, he was in a serious state. He was having fits and barely conscious, and his mouth was foaming. No one attended to him.
It was only when we cried that a patient service officer quickly picked up my dad's file and called for someone to push him away.
When my dad finally got to the ward, it was past 2am. And we had arrived at the A&E department about 7pm; it took more than six hours before my dad was seen by a neurologist.
If my dad had been taken to the ward earlier and been treated by a neurologist, his chances of living might be higher.
The neurologist told us that my dad had the worst kind of stroke anyone could get. He also told my family to quickly consider having a special injection administered as his condition was deteriorating by the minute since the onset of stroke at 5.45pm at home.
We took no more than 10 minutes to reach a decision. And to think that six hours were wasted in the A&E department.
The image of my father lying there foaming and having seizures, with no one to attend to him, has been haunting me since. Sadly, he was pronounced brain dead the next day.
I appreciate the doctors in the A&E department for their sense of urgency, and the doctors in the neurology ward who tried their best to save my father.
But I did not detect the same sense of urgency in hospital staff who were at the front line, doing admission administration and ferrying of patients. I saw faces filled with weariness and reluctance rather than urgency and compassion.
I agree with Ms Rodziah that it seemed acceptable to the hospital for patients to wait hours for a bed - and specialised treatment and care. If Singapore wants to be a top-notch medical hub, how can we condone this kind of work attitude, and hours of waiting in the emergency department?
Tan Tze Yee (Ms)
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