Mervyn Osterlund: 91-year-old says WA health system a ‘nightmare’ after multiple shocking experiences

A 91-year-old man who waited more than eight hours to be seen by a doctor following a stroke is pleading with Roger Cook to come see the chaos of WA’s buckling health system himself. Mervyn Osterlund and his son, Miguel, are speaking out after Mr Osterlund’s most recent discharge from hospital last month because they feel completely let down by the hospital system. When Mr Osterlund had pneumonia and suffered a suspected stroke in October last year, paramedics rushed him to Fiona Stanley Hospital. He was forced to wait more than eight hours before he was seen by a doctor. Five of those hours were spent on the ramp. When an MRI later confirmed Mr Osterlund had suffered multiple strokes, they say there was no explanation from doctors as to why he waited hours during a medical emergency. The 91-year-old described his experience in the health system as a “nightmare”, and despite being in congestive heart failure, he’s reluctant to return to the hospital should he need care. “The people in these hospitals, they’re not looking after you properly,” he said. A few days later he was transferred to Fremantle Hospital, before being discharged on November 1. His discharge papers noted “functional decline in the context of acute illness and likely missed stroke.” When Mr Osterlund’s son, Miguel, filed a complaint with the hospital, the response shocked him. “The hospital’s excuse was that my dad’s observations were steady, even though they were informed that he could have had a stroke,” he said. The letter from South Metropolitan Health Service chief executive Neil Doverty, seen by The Sunday Times, apologised for the “long wait-times”, saying it “reflects the very high demand the hospital is experiencing for inpatient beds.” “Your father did not present with symptoms specific to a stroke and the type of stroke he was ultimately diagnosed with, does not have an identified urgent treatment,” Mr Doverty said. In a statement to The Sunday Times, Mr Doverty maintained that FSH staff “acknowledged Mr Osterlund’s family’s concerns and offered an apology for the delay in treatment”, but that “there was no failure in the standard of care provided.” Miguel has been caring for his elderly father for more than a decade as he manages several medical conditions. In the past 10 months alone, Miguel said his father has suffered immensely during four separate hospital stays in a healthcare system operating “on the smell of an oily rag.” “We have had so many bad experiences with two of our hospitals (in the southern suburbs), Fiona Stanley and Rockingham,” he said. When the pair were waiting in the Rockingham General Hospital ED in his most recent admission, they were told it could take up to 30 hours to get a bed, due to patients waiting for aged care beds having nowhere to go. During an earlier admission, a man with dementia who was meant to have a staff member with him at all times allegedly went into Mr Osterlund’s room and took some of his belongings. The nonagenarian said he feared for his life in that moment. “(He) walked in, sat down right in front (of me), looked at me — I thought he was going to attack me,” he said. The hospital was so short-staffed that during each stay Miguel received calls from his distressed father, who needs help getting up and down, because his call bell had gone unanswered. One of those occasions was after he’d been left sitting on the toilet for half an hour, yelling for a nurse to come to his aid. His son had to ring the hospital each time to ask what was going on. Mr Doverty would not be drawn on whether staff shortages were impacting patient care at RGH. “Patient safety is our first and highest concern and we provide safe, high-quality patient care,” the SMHS boss said. The Osterlunds are speaking out because they want genuine change. “A lot of people won’t say nothing — they’re scared,” Mr Osterlund said. “Look at those two people in Fiona (Stanley Hospital) the other day, in the paper. She wrote to Cook, and what happened? Nothing.” Mr Osterlund’s experiences bear similarities to that of an 84-year-old man who waited almost 12 hours at FSH ED before being given a bed in the police holding room. His daughter, who did not want to be named, wrote to the Premier after he called a letter from Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas on record ambulance ramping a “media stunt”. “Tell me how a lack of ambulances and overwhelmed hospital facilities and staff is a political stunt,” she said. As Wellard residents, the Premier is the Osterlunds’ local member of parliament. Miguel’s attempts to contact the Kwinana MLA had so far been unsuccessful, but it’s understood Mr Cook will reach out to the family. “Instead of speaking to his members of parliament on what’s going on, he needs to talk to the members of the public, talk to us,” he said. Shadow health minister Libby Mettam said the family’s experience is “inexcusable and reveals a reality far removed from what the Premier would like the public to believe.”