"Privacy Concerns at the Emergency Dept"

My relative needed to see someone in the ED regarding a deeply personal health issue they were experiencing. 

The waiting room was packed, which I believe is fairly typical. What was deeply troubling was how lacking in privacy and sensitivity to my relative's condition it was. 

First, the design of the place - the glass barrier between us and the initial intake nurse/clerk makes it harder for the intake clerk to hear what we're saying, so we're asked to repeat, but louder; then there's the cramped tiny room everyone's waiting in, with very little distance between the waiting patients and the intake windows; and the patients left and right of us at other windows, disclosing health information without any apparent privacy for them either.

I believe there is no way one can speak quietly and discretely about one's health concern in that ED environment. I think if you speak with a normal voice, everyone around you, including those closer to you in the waiting area, can hear everything you're disclosing.

We could hear what others were saying about their health - we knew there condition, why they were there and answers to the questions they were being asked at the window.  In my opinion, this isn't health information privacy at all. 

My poor relative was mortified with embarrassment at feeling as though everyone knows what's going on for them. 

With strict Privacy laws in regards to healthcare, how is it that one of our state-funded emergency departments is seemingly so ill equipped to ensure the laws are adhered to?  I believe there is more to patient privacy than just locking away files and ensuring the info isn't shared around.

I think the conditions in the department make it near impossible to keep one's health information private. 

In my opinion, the layout of the ED at Armadale needs to be seriously revised and patient confidentiality needs to be a huge factor in that design.