Critically ill patient shuffled from one Australian State to another: NSW to Queensland

Another failure of the NSW public hospital system. And Queensland is pretty bad too -- as shown by the fact that it was only a private hospital that could take the patient

A woman critically injured in a car crash had to be flown to Queensland for treatment as not one NSW hospital could treat her. Georgie Batterson endured a 400km helicopter flight to Southport on the Gold Coast for emergency surgery after Saturday's crash on the Pacific Highway near Kempsey. She was refused admission to every hospital in Sydney and Newcastle as the entire NSW hospital system was on "code red", meaning no space could be found for her.

The 56-year-old Kempsey woman's shocking story emerged as her husband Ian, also injured in the accident, finally tracked down where his wife had been taken. Mrs Batterson is now in an induced coma in a private hospital on the Gold Coast - with broken ribs, a collapsed lung, broken pelvis, broken leg and a shattered ankle.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that a trauma doctor with the Westpac Rescue helicopter spent two hours on Saturday night calling hospitals in Sydney as well as Newcastle's John Hunter "begging" them to take her as she lay strapped to a trolley, critically injured and crying in pain. He was told not one of the 400 intensive care beds in NSW was free. It was then that rescue helicopter pilots made the decision to fly Mrs Batterson to Queensland.

Mr Batterson yesterday told The Daily Telegraph he was traumatised by what his wife had to endure. "As far as nurses and emergency staff at Kempsey, they were perfect . . . absolutely 150 per cent," he said. "There is something seriously wrong when you can't get treated in your home state. The pilot was desperately asking them where he was going. The trauma bloke said, 'Bugger it, we'll go to Queensland'."

NSW Nationals leader Andrew Stoner said the Battersons' story was a "disgrace". "This State Government has become so dysfunctional it can't meet its basic responsibilities," he said.

Source