RBWH staff are always going above and beyond to provide the best and kindest care to our patients. This was the case recently when a 37-year-old Bundaberg man with cancer was transferred to RBWH for surgery.
Unfortunately, his condition rapidly deteriorated once he arrived at RBWH and he was admitted to palliative care. His final wish was to be transferred back to Bundaberg so he could hold his one-year-old baby one last time. There were no flights available and the team were concerned his condition would continue to deteriorate over the weekend, before he had the chance to get home.
The discussion was urgently escalated, and the Queensland Ambulance Service team kindly agreed to take him home by road with a nurse escort, Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Lisa Blyth. Lisa worked many hours of overtime on her Friday night to ensure this patient was able to get home. He arrived home to cuddle his baby, and married his partner two days later. The patient passed away peacefully at home in the coming weeks surrounded by family.
Thanks to the compassion and ‘yes’ attitude of Lisa Blyth, Kath Ryan from Patient Flow, 7AS NUM Duane Watson and the team at RBWH, this man was able to spend his final weeks with the people he loved most. This story is a timely reminder of the life changing care we provide at RBWH every single day.