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A woman aged in her 90s was forced to wait hours to have a knife removed from her back at the Gold Coast Hospital after a disagreement between staff, 9News can reveal.
She presented at the hospital with the knife lodged in the left side of her lower back at 12.05am today.
Patient notes state that a surgical consultant was contacted "who suggested ED remove the knife".
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The notes add that emergency staff were unable to facilitate this due to the patient's "high acuity" and the emergency department "already over capacity with multiple unwell patients in hallway".
A decision was made to leave the knife in until the morning surgical ward round, with a nurse required to "sit directly next to patient at all times, as knife angling down and potential to cause more harm if patient was to suddenly move".
The case notes also say the woman was unable to go to the toilet, staff had "difficulty controlling the patient's pain" and that the "patient [was] distressed knowing the knife wasn't being removed for five-plus hours".
Queensland Health said the woman received surgery after a four-hour wait.
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The Gold Coast Health Service said it had limited theatre activity overnight with capacity reserved for life-threatening injuries.
The same health service has also launched an investigation into the treatment of some women with breast cancer.
Queensland Health sources have told 9News there are concerns about the treatment in a number of cases including some involving women who have since died.
The hospital said no patients involved in the review would need to be recalled and would not answer further questions due to patient confidentiality.
