A teenager recovering from cancer has to wait more than 27 hours in a hospital hallway for a bed in another example of the crisis facing Victoria's health system.
Erika, the mother of William, told Melbourne ABC Radio an attending nurse at Box Hill Hospital broke down in tears when she learned how long they had been forced to wait.
William had just finished six months of chemotherapy for Hodgkins lymphoma and arrived at the hospital seeking treatment for a neurological issue.
His mother said they arrived at midday on Tuesday and were forced to wait for a bed overnight after being admitted at 9 pm.
A beautiful nurse came out and she was waiting to take Will around for an MRI.
When she learned of his medical history — that he had just finished six months of chemo for Hodgkins lymphoma and had been waiting for 27 hours — she fell to the ground. The mother was quick to praise the determined efforts of nurses and doctors at the hospital, acknowledging that it was out of their control, but admitted that leaving her son in the hallway had left her extremely anxious.
Will was in hospital last week with an infection, but when his neutrophils are so low it's quite a concern that he's in a corridor of an emergency department during COVID and when there are so many other viruses going around.
I get worried about what he is going to catch. She said she asked twice how long it would take for a bed to become available, but did not want to come across as a nagging mother or someone who was too protective of her child.
They are all so beautiful. This isn't about the care provided by the nurses and doctors. That was what got me. The reaction of a nurse that day when you see a nurse being brought to tears. Eastern Health executive director of clinical operations, Shannon Wight said she was unable to comment on the specific situation, but acknowledged that Eastern Health hospitals are under a great deal of pressure because of the deferred care, influenza, and COVID, and our people are working tirelessly to provide exceptional care for all of our patients.