On the floor of a Sydney hospital bathroom, Declan lay stranded for hours​on February 8, 2025 at 2:45 am

A man who spent three hours on the bathroom floor at a Sydney hospital because nobody could lift him is one of several patients who say their treatment highlights inadequate staffing levels and training in the NSW public health system.

Advocates have requested an urgent meeting with Health Minister Ryan Park after hearing an increasing number of stories involving people with physical disabilities being mistreated, misdiagnosed or having their dignity compromised in NSW hospitals.

Declan Lee, who has cerebral palsy, said he has been hesitant to visit hospital since he slipped and fell on the bathroom floor at Northern Beaches’ mental health short stay unit in early 2020.

He said ward staff could not lift him without a hoist, and he was left lying on the floor for at least three hours while he waited for them to find one, developing bruises and pressure sores as a result.

“I was let down by the hospital system … I felt that, wherever I go, I wasn’t going to be safe,” Lee said. “When [hospitals] don’t have the facilities, or the training, or the understanding of disability, that kind of makes you feel like you’re not entitled to healthcare, and that makes me feel like a second-class citizen.”

A spokesman for the hospital’s private operator, Healthscope, said they could not discuss individual cases, but all patients received falls and pressure injury risk assessments upon admission.

“All nursing and clinical staff across the hospital are trained in the safe manual handling techniques for patients, including the use of manual handling equipment including patient hoists,” the spokesman said. “Patients with known conditions such as cerebral palsy typically have existing management plans that are integrated into their hospital care plan.”

Physical Disability Council of NSW chief executive Edward Morris said the government-funded advocacy group had been flooded with hospital horror stories from members.

In one case, a man developed blood poisoning after doctors at Royal North Shore Hospital treated a sore on his leg as a burn, despite further testing confirming his initial conviction that it was a blister. In another, a wheelchair user was forced to urinate into a bottle in a public walkway instead of being taken to a toilet.