Great-grandmother waited in the cold for two hours outside emergency department

Pictures of the elderly woman, who was identified as Maureen Wortley, were posted on social media by members of her family who were outraged at the lack of facilities available to waiting patients at Adelaide’s Lyell McEwin Hospital.

Ms Wortley’s family revealed that the great-grandmother had fallen over in her home, but one of her daughters had been forced to drive her to the hospital because of an ambulance shortage.

Upon arriving at the hospital, they were shocked to learn that those needing emergency treatment were being forced to wait in an outdoor “carport” area with no heating, despite the fact that temperatures were below 12C.

Ms Wortley’s daughter-in-law was further enraged by noticing that heated, make-shift marquees had been set up for nurses to assess incoming patients, while the sick were left outside to battle the elements.

“They were there shivering in the cold because there was no room in emergency,” said Ms Wortley’s family member.

Ms Wortley’s family has accused the hospital of failing to provide the 92-year-old with a wheelchair and asking the great-grandmother to take multiple rapid antigen tests.

According to SA Health’s live ED monitoring system, the Lyell McEwin Hospital was declared Code White yesterday, which indicated that all treatment rooms were full.

It is also believed that wait times exceeded three hours for some emergency department patients.