In the realm of healthcare, tales of preventable tragedies sometimes emerge, shedding light on the dire consequences of negligence within hospital settings.

Each instance serves as a poignant reminder of the profound impact that lapses in patient care can have on individuals and their families.

In a heart-wrenching turn of events, the journey of a Queensland grandfather has taken a devastating turn, leaving his family grappling with profound sorrow.

Russell Bates, a retired school principal, was enjoying post-Christmas festivities with his loved ones on December 30 when a sudden blackout and fall led to his admission to Logan Hospital.

What followed was a harrowing two-week ordeal that ended with his family making the agonising decision to turn off his life support.

The initial seven-hour wait in a corridor due to ambulance ramping was just the beginning of what the Bates family describes as a series of catastrophic missteps.

Russell Bates’ family claimed that health system failures led to misdiagnoses and delays in his treatment. Credits: YouTube / 7NEWS Australia

In just 14 days, the former school principal passed away due to a chain of shortcomings within the healthcare system, as lamented by his grieving family.

They asserted that Mr Bates suffered from repeated misdiagnoses, attributing these errors to staffing shortages within the hospital.

Despite pleas from concerned family members for further medical assessments, his health declined rapidly during his ten-day hospital stay.

On the fifth day, Mr Bates experienced heart failure, and by the tenth day, he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) due to pneumonia contracted in the hospital.

Additionally, he suffered from a perforated bowel and sepsis.

Despite undergoing emergency surgery, his family faced the devastating choice to terminate life support two days later.

They firmly believe that Mr Bates would have survived had it not been for a string of systemic failures.

‘He walked in there a relatively healthy man up until that minor fall, and left in a body bag,’ Michelle Dunne, Mr Bates’ daughter, said.

‘I kept telling them and telling them, "Please do more tests."’

‘The nurses were so concerned about Dad. They were running around the hospital looking for people to help him,’ Mr Bates’ son, David, added.

The family alleged that a surgeon informed them that their father ‘wasn’t sick enough’ to warrant surgery.

Nurses subsequently advised the family to invoke Ryan's Rule—a three-step procedure designed to ensure thorough evaluation when a patient's condition deteriorates or fails to improve as anticipated.

The state government says the rule ‘applies to all patients admitted to any Queensland Health public hospital—including the emergency department—and in some Hospital in the Home (HITH) services’.

However, the family said this process led to further errors by doctors, despite their assurances.

‘We seemed powerless,’ Michelle said. ‘The kidney doctor on day 11 said to us, "We wish we'd known about this three days ago, he could've had a chance." That broke me.'

David struggled to hold back tears as he recounted his last conversation with his father just before he was taken in for emergency surgery.

‘The 10 minutes we got to say goodbye, I said to Dad, "How much fight do you have left in you?" He said, "I'll keep fighting, mate, if you do," and we are,’ he narrated.

The exact cause of Mr Bates' death has not been established yet. The family was also informed that the coroner's office has not yet received the autopsy report, and it could take up to two years to obtain it.

Logan Hospital has initiated a 'comprehensive review' into the care provided to Mr Bates, and an independent review is also in progress.

‘Logan Hospital has been in contact with Mr Bates' family, and is committed to providing ongoing support,’ Logan and Beaudesert Health Service Executive Director Anne Coccetti stated.

‘As this incident is now with the coroner, Logan Hospital is unable to provide further comment.’

Queensland Health Minister Shannon Fentiman has extended an invitation to meet with Mr Bates' family to discuss the events. The family has appealed to both the minister and Queensland Premier Steven Miles.

‘Enough is enough—fix your system,’ David asserted.

‘Us fighting isn't going to bring Dad back, but how can we get [a] message out to the health minister, to the government, to ensure this doesn't happen to someone else's family.’

‘It's got to stop,’ Michelle added.

The heartbreaking tale of Russell Bates' tragic end at Logan Hospital highlighted yet another concerning instance of alleged medical negligence.

As families continue to grapple with the devastating loss of their loved ones due to purported failures within the healthcare system, it underscores the urgent need for a thorough examination of hospital protocols and patient care standards.

This sombre narrative resonates with similar stories of hospital tragedies, such as the alleged starvation death of a patient with a special condition and the paramedic accused of disregarding patient concerns before their demise.

These incidents serve as poignant reminders of the critical importance of upholding patient safety, and ensuring accountability within the healthcare sector.

Key Takeaways

• Russell Bates died at Logan Hospital following a series of alleged health system failures, which his family claimed, led to misdiagnoses and delays in treatment.
• The family alleged that Mr Bates’ health worsened due to inadequate care, and they were encouraged to invoke Ryan's Rule, which did not prevent further mistakes.
• An independent review and a comprehensive hospital review into Mr Bates' death were launched. The coroner's investigation into the cause of death is ongoing, and could take up to two years.
• Mr Bates’ family is demanding actions be taken to rectify the health system issues, and have appealed directly to the Queensland Health Minister and Premier.

Have you or your loved ones faced challenges similar to those of the Bates family? How can people work towards ensuring that the healthcare system is responsive, responsible, and respectful of the people’s needs?

We invite you to share your thoughts and experiences with hospital care in the comments below.

 

[CristinaV]

Red flag: he blacked out and fell.

 

[Jazzcrew]

Shocking . Personally I would not want to go to Logan hospital and it seems hospital treatment generally ,is the luck of the draw . This should not be the case and everything needs a major overhaul to standardise the level of care .

 

[IAN3005]

Shocking . Personally I would not want to go to Logan hospital and it seems hospital treatment generally ,is the luck of the draw . This should not be the case and everything needs a major overhaul to standardise the level of care .

Yes.... instead of sending money overseas which never sees the light of day because it is being used to feather someone else's nest...

 

[Trudylee]

Goes to show how the Health Profession has been in decline for many Decades and purposely by those in Elite Positions, Money has not been going into Hospitals ,the training is no longer up to high Standards of the past either too

 

[IAN3005]

Goes to show how the Health Profession has been in decline for many Decades and purposely by those in Elite Positions, Money has not been going into Hospitals ,the training is no longer up to high Standards of the past either too

Yup.....

 

[Reet]

I had to spend five weeks in Grafton Base Hospital over Christmas/New Year 2022/23 and the nurses there were extremely good to their patients. In fact I found they went out of their way to make the patients happy in any way they could. I must say they were overworked through lack of domestic staff. The local doctors and surgeons were generally very good but the visiting doctors, of which there seem to be many, were, for the most part, not the best by any means and many of them did not seem to know how to treat patients medically or personally.

 

[Babbie]

Goes to show how the Health Profession has been in decline for many Decades and purposely by those in Elite Positions, Money has not been going into Hospitals ,the training is no longer up to high Standards of the past either too

Training not up to standard? Absolute rubbish, we have one of the best medical systems in the world. My husband was recently in hospital, treatment was excellent.

 

[Catherines]

Yup.....

Training not up to standard? Absolute rubbish, we have one of the best medical systems in the world. My husband was recently in hospital, treatment was excellent.

I’m sorry to hear of this family’s recent experience and offer my thoughts on their loss. We do have a pretty good medical system in Australia, but like anything else, there can be very big mishaps resulting in severe consequences.

However, not everyone taken to hospital gets in immediately, some have to wait, and wait. There is a shortage of nurses & doctors but the system cannot MAKE people train in the medical profession. A career in any profession is an individual’s decision. We may have well trained nurses and doctors but the shortage can be a big factor in getting treatment quickly and when needed. We are 100% better with our hospital system than the UK.

Your husband is lucky & so was I when had a stroke in 2015 & received very prompt treatment, my case was almost 10 years ago. We need more people WANTING to join the nursing & medical professions. We cannot MAKE them go down that road no matter how hard we think lobbying & abusing our ministers will work. At the same time, the wrong treatment or failure to act promptly when family can see the signs, is inexcusable.

I recently had a bad experience with an intern treating me - he didn’t know where to find the equipment or what he needed to take my blood, left the torniquet on my arm well after getting just a small amount of blood, then released it well after taking the needle out (it should be released as soon as the first sign of blood is observed in the vial, never after taking the needle out), he didn’t know where to take my pulse (even a normal person can tell you it is not half way up the forearm, or closer to the wrist, it is at the inside in a specific area of the inside of the forearm; you take a pulse at the thumb side of the inside of the wrist. I have vowed never to let him treat me if I ever have to go back to that hospital. One can get a good doctor/nurse and then you can be unfortunate to get one like I did recently. By the way, I’m not in the medical field - I chose secretarial administration work, but I read and have a lot more common sense than this last doctor treating me.

 

[Babbie]

I’m sorry to hear of this family’s recent experience and offer my thoughts on their loss. We do have a pretty good medical system in Australia, but like anything else, there can be very big mishaps resulting in severe consequences.

However, not everyone taken to hospital gets in immediately, some have to wait, and wait. There is a shortage of nurses & doctors but the system cannot MAKE people train in the medical profession. A career in any profession is an individual’s decision. We may have well trained nurses and doctors but the shortage can be a big factor in getting treatment quickly and when needed. We are 100% better with our hospital system than the UK.

Your husband is lucky & so was I when had a stroke in 2015 & received very prompt treatment, my case was almost 10 years ago. We need more people WANTING to join the nursing & medical professions. We cannot MAKE them go down that road no matter how hard we think lobbying & abusing our ministers will work. At the same time, the wrong treatment or failure to act promptly when family can see the signs, is inexcusable.

I recently had a bad experience with an intern treating me - he didn’t know where to find the equipment or what he needed to take my blood, left the torniquet on my arm well after getting just a small amount of blood, then released it well after taking the needle out (it should be released as soon as the first sign of blood is observed in the vial, never after taking the needle out), he didn’t know where to take my pulse (even a normal person can tell you it is not half way up the forearm, or closer to the wrist, it is at the inside in a specific area of the inside of the forearm; you take a pulse at the thumb side of the inside of the wrist. I have vowed never to let him treat me if I ever have to go back to that hospital. One can get a good doctor/nurse and then you can be unfortunate to get one like I did recently. By the way, I’m not in the medical field - I chose secretarial administration work, but I read and have a lot more common sense than this last doctor treating me.

No, my husband was NOT lucky, he got excellent care because we have an excellent medical system. People here seem to be chronically whinging, moaning, groaning and complaining about everything and anything. Don't believe everything you read in the paper, it is usually incorrect. There is always two sides to a story. Tell me which country in the world has a flawless medical system??

 

[IAN3005]

I’m sorry to hear of this family’s recent experience and offer my thoughts on their loss. We do have a pretty good medical system in Australia, but like anything else, there can be very big mishaps resulting in severe consequences.

However, not everyone taken to hospital gets in immediately, some have to wait, and wait. There is a shortage of nurses & doctors but the system cannot MAKE people train in the medical profession. A career in any profession is an individual’s decision. We may have well trained nurses and doctors but the shortage can be a big factor in getting treatment quickly and when needed. We are 100% better with our hospital system than the UK.

Your husband is lucky & so was I when had a stroke in 2015 & received very prompt treatment, my case was almost 10 years ago. We need more people WANTING to join the nursing & medical professions. We cannot MAKE them go down that road no matter how hard we think lobbying & abusing our ministers will work. At the same time, the wrong treatment or failure to act promptly when family can see the signs, is inexcusable.

I recently had a bad experience with an intern treating me - he didn’t know where to find the equipment or what he needed to take my blood, left the torniquet on my arm well after getting just a small amount of blood, then released it well after taking the needle out (it should be released as soon as the first sign of blood is observed in the vial, never after taking the needle out), he didn’t know where to take my pulse (even a normal person can tell you it is not half way up the forearm, or closer to the wrist, it is at the inside in a specific area of the inside of the forearm; you take a pulse at the thumb side of the inside of the wrist. I have vowed never to let him treat me if I ever have to go back to that hospital. One can get a good doctor/nurse and then you can be unfortunate to get one like I did recently. By the way, I’m not in the medical field - I chose secretarial administration work, but I read and have a lot more common sense than this last doctor treating me.

Sounds like the cleaner jumped in to give a hand or maybe some Joe Blow off the street by the sound of it....

 

[CristinaV]

I’m sorry to hear of this family’s recent experience and offer my thoughts on their loss. We do have a pretty good medical system in Australia, but like anything else, there can be very big mishaps resulting in severe consequences.

However, not everyone taken to hospital gets in immediately, some have to wait, and wait. There is a shortage of nurses & doctors but the system cannot MAKE people train in the medical profession. A career in any profession is an individual’s decision. We may have well trained nurses and doctors but the shortage can be a big factor in getting treatment quickly and when needed. We are 100% better with our hospital system than the UK.

Your husband is lucky & so was I when had a stroke in 2015 & received very prompt treatment, my case was almost 10 years ago. We need more people WANTING to join the nursing & medical professions. We cannot MAKE them go down that road no matter how hard we think lobbying & abusing our ministers will work. At the same time, the wrong treatment or failure to act promptly when family can see the signs, is inexcusable.

I recently had a bad experience with an intern treating me - he didn’t know where to find the equipment or what he needed to take my blood, left the torniquet on my arm well after getting just a small amount of blood, then released it well after taking the needle out (it should be released as soon as the first sign of blood is observed in the vial, never after taking the needle out), he didn’t know where to take my pulse (even a normal person can tell you it is not half way up the forearm, or closer to the wrist, it is at the inside in a specific area of the inside of the forearm; you take a pulse at the thumb side of the inside of the wrist. I have vowed never to let him treat me if I ever have to go back to that hospital. One can get a good doctor/nurse and then you can be unfortunate to get one like I did recently. By the way, I’m not in the medical field - I chose secretarial administration work, but I read and have a lot more common sense than this last doctor treating me.

Because you read does not make you an expert. Have you thought that maybe that intern was new to the area he was working? Have you thought that maybe he ws nervous as you could be his first patient? Nerves will make you forget all your training. Did you not think of these reasons?

 

[Catherines]

Because you read does not make you an expert. Have you thought that maybe that intern was new to the area he was working? Have you thought that maybe he ws nervous as you could be his first patient? Nerves will make you forget all your training. Did you not think of these reasons?

I’ve not considered myself an expert and what do you mean by your first sentence, I’d like to know please ?

He also wrote my notes between other written information in his notebook by circling my info - not a good sign, nervous or not. If an intern is put to work in the EMERGENCY department of a Brisbane public hospital and I was ‘his first patient’, in my opinion he should have had a more senior doctor observing & advising. This intern left a huge bruise on the inside of my elbow which was evident for 10 days, yes 10 days, before it started to fade. He also kept insisting I told him certain observations when he had actually twisted that info - it was not critical to my issue for going to hospital, thank goodness, to my case, but his version was not mine. I know everyone has to start somewhere but in medicine, for a few weeks at least, someone should have been at his side. No first-dayer should EVER be left alone in ANY job, let alone medicine, until they have proven their capabilities. That’s how some medical cases go awry and major situations occur.