The HCCC confirmed it was waiting on a response and relevant records from NSW Ambulance after the family of Newcastle woman Margaret France lodged a complaint on May 12.
The state’s ambulance network has been under sustained pressure for months,with the service now receiving 3500 to 3900 daily triple-zero calls.Isabella Porras
France’s family say the 69-year-old,who had suffered from chronic health conditions,endured an “agonising” wait for an ambulance after four triple-zero calls were made over seven hours on April 29.
Sister-in-law Karen France said she had requested a formal investigation by the state’s healthcare watchdog into what she describes as the “failures of the current NSW ambulance system and lack of resources that led to[France’s] unnecessarily traumatic death”.
The family said Margaret France died at Belmont Hospital shortly after being admitted more than seven hours after a friend made the first call to ambulance at about 11.20am.
A spokesperson for the HCCC said the watchdog had sought “a response and relevant records from all providers involved in the matter,including NSW Ambulance”.
In an email to the family,an assessment officer for the HCCC said:“I can see that your concerns are serious in nature and in such instances the provider would be conducting their own internal investigation in order to provide a meaningful response to the complaint.”
The family said they had requested the HCCC also review the after-care procedures and discharge of France following care she received for a septic knee in a regional NSW hospital a month before her death.
The state’s ambulance network has been under sustained pressure for months, and the network hitting “status three” – its most severe level – multiple times in the past two months,including briefly on Monday.
as the NSW government moves to improve struggling front-line healthcare.
A budget commitment of $1.76 billion over four years will be set aside in the June state budget,including funding for an extra 210 ambulance support staff as well as 52 nurses and eight doctors.
At least 100 staff will be allocated to the virtual clinical care centre,set up to deal with record call volume.
Health Services Union national president Gerard Hayes said Sunday’s announcement went “some way to recognising the did not promote rapid response times”.
“These new stations show NSW Ambulance is moving back to having stations located in communities,” Mr Hayes said.
Last month,theHerald revealed NSW Ambulance were reviewing the use of taxis to transport patients to health care services,such as general practitioners or pharmacists,for some triple-zero callers who are assessed as having conditions that do not need an urgent ambulance response.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said the funding would deliver NSW Ambulance the largest paramedic workforce in Australia.
Funding will also be allocated to staffing a secondary triage system,the virtual care call centre,to deal with unprecedented call volume.
Earlier this year NSW Ambulance confirmed it was reviewing the circumstances surrounding two deaths in March after reports of two incidents where patients died after extended waits for paramedics to arrive.
Karen France said the concerns surrounding her sister-in-law’s death showed the need for “a formal look at the whole health system and the need for recommendations to fund a system that will work better for all patients”.
In a statement NSW Ambulance said the service “extends its sincere condolences to the family during this difficult time and acknowledges the distress this experience has caused.
“A review of the incident is being undertaken. The findings and any recommendations will be
provided to the family at the conclusion of the review process,” the spokesperson said.
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