My 5 year child broke their elbow in Karratha. They attended Karratha Health Campus ED immediately and was sent home only in a sling and told no staff were available to x-ray until tomorrow afternoon. My child was not x-rayed until the following day and the dr advised it was a fracture and would be reviewed by PCH.
Upon my request, my child’s arm was put in a half cast and sling. Two days later, I received a call from PCH orthopaedic surgeon and told to bring my child to Perth for “immediate surgery” on their elbow. This was extremely stressful as I had to arrange care for my 2 other children and pay a premium fare for the only available flight to Perth. As instructed, my child had to fast from 2am and attend PCH the following morning for surgery.
On arrival, PCH surgical services had no paperwork for my child or any idea why we were even there. I had to keep calling and calling PCH hotline to try to get through to the orthopaedic surgeon who instructed us to come down urgently. After 3 hrs waiting and fasting we were told by the orthopaedic surgeon my child’s surgery was cancelled due to higher priority jobs. They even mentioned they had attempted to contact me late the night before however no message was left. We were then instructed to fast from 4am and arrive at PCH the following day. After 3 hrs waiting and admission to the pre-surgery ward my child’s surgery was cancelled for a second time.
This has caused extreme distress to my 5 year old who is neurodiverse and needs food to regulate. The ongoing fasting has been extremely difficult, he is absolutely exhausted and in discomfort and we are away from home and our support network. Each day this has occurred my child has been extremely distressed both in the hospital and at our accommodation as the fasting has caused them to escalate and have great difficulty to regulate.
I feel so upset my child's arm has still not been fixed and they have had such an unpleasant experience at PCH. I fear that their third day in a row of fasting and lengthy hospital wait times will be no different. If we did not live regionally and were in Perth I’m sure their elbow would have been fixed 5 days ago when this accident occurred. Extremely disappointed with the care we have received by both Karratha Health Campus and PCH.
"2nd Cancellation of Immediate Surgery"
About: Karratha Health Campus / Emergency Department Karratha Health Campus Emergency Department Karratha 6714 Perth Children's Hospital / Ward 3C - Surgical Short Stay Same Day Pre OP Same Day Post Op Recovery/PACU Perth Children's Hospital Ward 3C - Surgical Short Stay Same Day Pre OP Same Day Post Op Recovery/PACU Nedlands 6009
Posted by hekasc95 (as ),
Responses
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