SA Health Apologizes to Woman Treated on Hospital Waiting Room Floor

A 71-year-old woman has spoken out about her harrowing experience being treated on the floor of a public hospital waiting room, sparking an apology from SA Health and a review of her care.

Ginny Chalmer, who lives with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, attended Noarlunga Hospital on Wednesday after her symptoms worsened following a virus. She was placed in a wheelchair and taken to a waiting room, where a paramedic deemed her "fit to sit" despite her telling staff she felt unwell.

Ms Chalmer said she "felt so unwell" while sitting that she made the choice to lay down on the floor. "At first, I was just lying on the cold floor, I didn't want to make an issue about it … then a nurse came in and asked me to get up," she said.

"I said, 'no, I need to stay lying down, could you get me a blanket so I could lie on it?' and so they got me a blanket."

Ms Chalmer said she was quickly seen by a "lovely doctor" who told her she wanted to start treatment quickly — but was told the hospital did not have any beds available to put her in.

"They did bloods, they did nasal swabs and things like that [on the floor] — it wasn't that invasive, it just shouldn't happen," she said.

Ms Chalmer was also "horrified" about the privacy of other patients in the waiting room after overhearing details about people's conditions and outcomes. "I just thought, 'wow, what about the confidentiality?'" Ms Chalmer said.

"Now, I know everything about this man that's actually sitting there, I just couldn't believe it was actually taking place."

SA Health said it had apologised to Ms Chalmer and would undertake a review of her experience. "We do not put patients on the floor for treatment," a spokesperson said in a statement.

"On occasion, we do commence some treatment for eligible patients in the waiting room to ensure treatment can start as quickly as possible. The safety of our patients and staff is a key priority, and this helps reduce the time people need to wait and reduces the time people need to stay in hospital."

Liberal Opposition Health spokesperson Jack Batty said he was shocked to hear about Ms Chalmer's "floor care" experience and labelled it "entirely unacceptable".

"Having a 71-year-old woman lying on the ground in a public waiting room for four hours, being treated … with no privacy, is totally unacceptable," he said.

"These sorts of conditions are absolutely disgraceful — they should never take place in a system in South Australia."

Acting Health Minister Joe Szakacs said there was no mandate or practice "to treat people on our floors".

"The individual felt the need to lie down, that's entirely appropriate for her to choose to do," he said.

"Our nurses and doctors provide the care they have to provide, often in circumstances which are far from linear and far from easy."

"I think in this circumstance, the doctors and nurses involved did so in a way we should commend."

Mr Szakacs said South Australia's hospital network remained busy for a number of reasons, including a lack of available aged care beds and rising presentations from flu cases.

"Nonetheless, the local health network is taking a look at this, I think that's also appropriate and where things can be improved or done differently ... [it] is always committed to doing that," he said.

He added that patient confidentiality was "non-negotiable" and would form part of the review.