"Overall Hospital Care January to April 2025"

I was a patient coming through emergency on 3 occasions due to issues with my private health fund, from January to April 2025 

Over the course of these 3 months I have had 3 surgeries & been in 2 different wards- Orthopaedics (Port Phillip Ward) & Renal (5FNorth). 

The level of care & attention I have received from every specialist/nurse/patient care staff, has been second to none every day for which I’ve been immensely grateful. I have had an ongoing rollercoaster of setbacks from initial surgery.

I was due to be under private hospital care which didn’t eventuate due to disgraceful  heath care cover management. Because this failed me despite every effort to provide all appropriate documentation I then had to navigate the public hospital system accordingly. 

From orthopaedics to renal, infectious diseases and general medicine, I am so enormously grateful to every surgeon, specialist and Dr that has cared for me, to every nurse and patient care staff member. The compassion, kindness, consideration, general support and level of expertise have been exemplary, 

I would like to say an extra special thank you to Sarah, Esme & Christina, all in orthopaedics, who extended that extra level of patient compassion and support when I was having those difficult moments struggling with the severity of my situation - they were absolutely wonderful and I’m so immensely grateful to each of them. 

I would like to make special mention to David, Nursing Coordinator in Orthopaedics who checked in on me regularly over the course of almost 5 weeks when I was back in his ward due to complications from femur surgery. During this time I was immensely appreciative for his wonderful kindness, consideration and care for me during this time and attention to my overall wellbeing. He’s an exemplary team leader by example. 

Morgan, a 3rd year Doctor training in Infectious Diseases was a constant source of comfort and positivity throughout my collective 7 weeks in orthopedics, being there to deliver regular updates on my situation, finding a tissue when needed, beaming with hope when results were heading in the right direction and comforting when they weren’t ideal. His bedside manner and overall patient care absolutely wonderful and his smiling face on arrival always gave me encouragement and hope, thank you so much Morgan, 

I made a point of noting every single person that cared for me in every way during my time at Frankston for a collective stay of 9 weeks. They shared in my wins, comforted me with simple gestures and words when things felt so uncertain, and provided daily support in every way possible to remind me that every positive was another step towards recovery. It’s their job some people might say but to me they all went over and above, thank you😊.

I have experienced a lot of health hurdles and surgeries in my life and this medical experience felt monumental by comparison for the uncertainty it brought, but the collective care and specialist teams in the Port Phillip Ward together with the amazing care I received in 5FNorth whilst under Renal Care (together with Infectious Diseases and General Medicine) plus the exceptional nursing care from the delightful Melinda, Amy, Betsy and their wonderful nursing and patient support colleagues, helped me through this very challenging time for which I am enormously  grateful. 

Thank you to everyone involved to give me exceptional care throughout this time, you’ve been amazing and I can’t speak highly enough of Frankston Hospital & Peninsula Health, including the Emergency Dept. care teams, really wonderful.