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🇦🇺 Australia /Health & Science

Man with broken hip waits hours at RFDS base and outside hospital before admission

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Patrick Rainford, 60, said he waited for hours after being flown from Mount Gambier to Adelaide with a broken hip, without pain relief.
  • Ambulance ramping figures showed patients spent a record 5,891 hours outside public hospitals in South Australia in August.
  • SA Health apologised and said it would contact Rainford to learn from his experience and improve communication with regional patients.

Patrick Rainford spent hours on a stretcher after a flight to Adelaide for hip replacement surgery, first at a Royal Flying Doctor Service facility and then outside Flinders Medical Centre. He said he received no pain medication while waiting with a broken hip.

Rainford, 60, fell on August 25 and went to Mount Gambier Hospital. He was flown to Adelaide shortly after midnight on August 27, landing at about 2 a.m. He told 891 ABC Adelaide that he remained at the RFDS base until roughly 9:30 a.m., then spent more than six hours ramped outside Flinders in an ambulance before he was admitted at about 5 p.m.

No medication, no nothing, watching my blood pressure rise and in incredible pain from the hip.

· Patrick RainfordRainford described waiting for admission after arriving in Adelaide for hip replacement surgery.

"No medication, no nothing, watching my blood pressure rise and in incredible pain from the hip," he said. He said staff told him he could not receive pain relief before admission because he was fasting and taking medication for other health conditions. He said nurses watched his blood pressure and stress levels rise as he continued fasting, and that he was given only ice chips while waiting.

If you're not admitted then you're sort of like in limbo, and you're not seen until you're admitted.

· Patrick RainfordHe explained how he experienced the admission process while waiting for hospital care.

Rainford also said the stretcher was particularly uncomfortable because he has five bulging discs in his lower back. "I'd just hate to see anyone else have to go through this ordeal really, especially at my age too, 60, it's not as if I'm young," he said.

South Australian public hospital patients spent a record 5,891 hours waiting in ambulances in August, exceeding the previous high of 5,866 hours in July 2025. A Health Performance Council review described ramping as chronic from 2022 to 2026. It said the problem would be under control if monthly hours fell below 2,000, while noting it was unreasonable to expect ramping could ever be completely fixed. SA Health chief executive Robyn Lawrence apologised to Rainford and said the department would contact him about improving the process for regional patients.

I'd just hate to see anyone else have to go through this ordeal really, especially at my age too, 60, it's not as if I'm young.

· Patrick RainfordRainford described the physical and emotional toll of the prolonged wait.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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