Problems at Modbury Hospital Could Lead to Negligence Claims

Troubles at Modbury Hospital could lead to medical negligence risks, writes Adelaide personal injury lawyer Mal Byrne.

Recent warnings from doctors at the Modbury Hospital that the hospital is unsafe due to chronic overcrowding and gross understaffing means that the State of South Australia is also at risk of facing an increase in civil claims should any patients die or suffer an aggravation or deterioration of their illness or injury as a result of any failure of care arising out of the problems identified at the hospital.  The problems include :

1. The risk of Emergency Department patients presenting with severe problems being over looked; 

2. Patients waiting in the corridor in the Emergency Department being overlooked when their health deteriorates whilst waiting in the corridor; 

3. Only 24 cubicles being available at times or fire safety when there are 48 patients waiting in the Emergency Department; 

4. Doctors not being familiar with evacuation or fire safety procedures; 

5. Resuscitation door being hung the wrong way around exposing patients and staff to the risk of exposure to radiation; 

6. A lack of nurses to treat patients safely during periods of overcrowding in the hospital’s Emergency Department; 

7. A lack of specialist mental health doctors being available after 5.00 pm.

While the Courts accept that public hospitals are busy and under pressure, they will expect the state to provide minimum standards of care to all patients who present at any given time.

There are fundamental failures of care that the Court will not excuse regardless of the level of pressure at the hospital and they are even less likely to do so when the government has been warned that these problems exist and fails to act.

Mal Byrne is a Partner at South Australia’s largest personal injury law firm, Tindall Gask Bentley. Mal leads Tindall Gask Bentley’s Salisbury office. Contact (08) 8250 6668 or send an email.