Waiting too long for surgery for skull fracture, family resorts to private treatment

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDMay 4 2010

A Gold Coast man has been waiting for the last three years for a surgery for his fractured skull. Queensland Health Minister Paul Lucas feels it is been too long a wait. He assured that Queensland Health would be happy to provide appropriate treatment.

Mr. Lucas said, “I've asked the CEO of the Gold Coast Health Service to meet with Mr Lamble and with his wife to make sure that if there is anything we need to do for them, if there is surgery warranted in the public sector, we are more than happy to do that.”

In 2006 surgery was performed on Andrew Lamble wherein a metal plate was inserted into his skull at the Gold Coast Hospital. He had been injured by a metal pole in December 2006. In the latest MRI scan of his brain last year two discs were shown to be protruding into his spinal cord. This necessitated an urgent spinal surgery. The restorative surgery would prevent him from being paralyzed in all four limbs.

Now his wife who is in remission for bowel cancer has been diagnosed with a brain cyst. The couple is worried about their and their children’s future at present. Mr. Lamble after the three year wait has lost faith in the public health system. They have two children, Harrison, 3, and Evana, 2.

Mr. Lamble has now been offered surgery with Queensland Health by the end of this month. Since the date has not been fixed, his family and friends are helping in a fund-raising effort to ensure Mr Lamble can be treated privately. They will be spending $20,000 on an operation at a private hospital on Wednesday despite Mr. Lucas’s offer.

The family is unable to cope with the stress and waiting said Mr. Lamble’s wife, Lisa. “They just put it down to panic and anxiety attacks and told me to get some anti-depressants,” she said. Mrs. Lamble has been chopping wood and mowing lawns to feed her family. Mr. Lamble also said, “They should have picked up on it a lot earlier than they did but they didn't and I'm the one that had to suffer for it…It's been a struggle and it's been too long.”

A sad indictment on the state of Australian health system!