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"Child ear infection not being picked up by hospital doctor"

About: Swan Hill District Hospital / Emergency Department

(as a parent/guardian),

I took my child to the ED recently as they have had an ear infection going on almost 4 weeks and were unable to see the GP. Doc that seen us said they can see nothing wrong, other then some wax build up in the left ear. Doc stated if we were still concerned to follow up with an audiologist, but they couldn't see anything wrong. so they couldn't do a referral to the ENT as they classified this as non-emergent.

The whole reason for the ED visit was for the referral as that was the advice given by the last GP seen earlier this month, when my child was proscribed the 3rd round of antibiotics.

I took my child to a pre-booked audiologist appointment. She noted that in the right ear there is fluid build up and in the left redness indicating an infection starting. she completed the hearing test, with the results of moderate hearing loss in the right ear with decreased hearing starting in the left ear. recommendation to see an ENT as soon as possible due to how long this infection has been going on, especially after 3 rounds of antibiotics. She noted that if i hadn't have listened to my child over this ed doc that permanent hearing loss could have occurred

Both myself and, I believe, the audiologist are disappointed in the care taken by the SHDH ED to both diagnose this issue and in the hospital's dismissal of the issue at hand.

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Responses

Response from Joanna Dillon, Acting Executive Director of Clinical Care, Swan Hill District Health 2 weeks ago
Joanna Dillon
Acting Executive Director of Clinical Care,
Swan Hill District Health
Submitted on 14/07/2025 at 8:41 AM
Published on Care Opinion Australia at 10:52 AM


picture of Joanna Dillon

Dear disgruntaledparent,

Thank you for taking the time to provide this feedback whilst visiting our Emergency Department with your child. I want to begin by saying how truly sorry we are that you felt like your concerns weren't taken seriously during your Emergency Department visit.

We take all feedback seriously and have reviewed your child's presentation to see what we could have done differently to have provided a positive experience for you and your child.

After review, what we can see is that the referral you were requesting for an ENT specialist, unfortunately can only be provided by the child's GP. This is to ensure the regular GP can follow-up with the specialist for ongoing care. We are sorry that this wasn't communicated to you during your visit.

If you would like the opportunity to discuss this in further detail. Please don't hesitate contact me on 50339250 or jdillon@shdh.org.au.

Kind Regards

Jo

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