But more than seven hours after the incident as she lay on a stretcher in the emergency department, they remained frantically searching for answers.

A phone call from the hospital would have allayed all fears and panic, but she says it never happened.

Ms Dalgleish, a mother-of-five from Delacombe, was on her way to work in Daylesford on the morning of May 6.

She was involved in a multi-car collision on Water Street in Brown Hill about 8am, being struck by one out-of-control vehicle and pushed into another.

She knew immediately she has sustained injuries but that the incident could have been worse.

Her first instinct was to find her phone and let her loved ones know she was okay. She never got that chance.

She was soon whisked away in an ambulance and taken to the emergency department at Ballarat Health Services.

It was there Ms Dalgleish was told her next-of-kin would be contacted, but the phone call never came.

She says had it not been for her workplace contacting her partner Paul to see why she had not turned up to work, those closest to her would've spent the day not knowing she had been in a car crash.

It was at that point her partner called a police officer he knew in desperation, who could only give scant details that Mandi might have been in a collision.

"Nobody knew where I was, where my car was, I'd disappeared off the road to Daylesford as far as anybody else knew," she said.

IN OTHER NEWS

Shaken up, in a neckbrace and lying on a stretcher in emergency, Ms Dalgleish says she verified her next of kin details with a hospital employee and was assured her family would be contacted.

Instead, her mother, partner and children were desperately trying to piece together a puzzle. All they knew was she had been in a car crash and was in hospital.

This lasted for about seven panic-stricken hours.

"It was about 12 o'clock that we knew she was in a car accident, but we didn't know any details," said her son, Kyle Margosis.

"I thought 'if she's in hospital and hasn't contacted us is she that bad that she can't contact us?'

"We were all panicking and just trying to figure out what was going on."

It was not until about 3pm, seven hours after the crash, that Kyle was told by hospital staff that his mum was in hospital and in a stable condition.

She had suffered severe bruising to her legs, but was still under strict orders not to move. She requires further specialist consultation to determine if more serious injuries have occurred.

However, her son says he only got answers after his own desperate line of questioning, as nobody was ever contacted by the hospital.

It is not the first time similar accusations have been levelled at BHS.

The Courier two weeks ago told the story of Peter Clarke, a man who was placed in an induced coma after going to emergency for head stitches while inebriated by alcohol in December.

The hospital admitted it did not use the best possible medication that led to Mr Clarke going into cardiac arrest.

Despite being in intensive care, he too never had his next-of-kin contacted by the hospital.

After reading of Mr Clarke's story in The Courier, Ms Dalgleish grew concerned that her incident might not have been isolated.

"In that five months, how many more people have been put through the distress that my family was?" she said.

"It wasn't little distress either, my mum is in her 80s, they were all to the point of crying.

"I was blissfully unaware of all of it because I assumed they'd be contacted."

While she says a written apology would be welcomed so her family can feel "validated" for the stress they endured, Ms Dalgleish's driving reason for sharing her story was to see positive change at the hospital.

"I just want it to be investigated and for measures to be put in place to stop this happening again.

"I just think they need to change their processes and procedures. I don't want it to happen to anybody else."

The Courier approached BHS with questions surrounding procedures around contacting next-of-kin, whether the hospital had followed protocol and if next-of-kin procedures had been addressed.

The hospital released the following statement:

"'Next-of-kin' refers to someone in a close personal relationship with a patient who has a personal interest in their welfare. In Australia, it generally means a 'person responsible' for you, or a 'substitute decision maker' in case decisions need to be made on your behalf.

"When a person presents to our Emergency Department (either on their own or via ambulance) we obtain details of their next of kin. This is important as we may need to urgently contact someone about the care of a patient. The medical and nursing team concentrate on performing urgent medical treatments and procedures whilst the triage nurse and reception staff collect personal details including next of kin."

"A patient can request that medical staff keep their next-of-kin informed about their condition and treatment plan. They may also request that a next-of-kin is not contacted.

"If a patient becomes unable to make or express their decisions because of their medical condition, medical staff may need to consult their next-of-kin to act on their behalf and provide advice about treatment.

"In the case of a trauma such as a car accident, part of the handover process with police and ambulance to the emergency department will be a discussion on notification to next of kin.

"In some cases, urgent care of the patient will be of critical importance and medical staff will act in the best interest of the patient. Care of the patient will always be our priority and contacting a next-of-kin may not be a priority, depending on the nature of the care required."

If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.