I am a carer for my parents. One of my parents attended a specialist appointment for their heart earlier this year. The Specialist from Western cardiologists felt it was appropriate to place a heart monitor subdermally.
I took time from my full-time employment to accompany my parent on flights that I paid for, hired a car to take them to Joondalup Health Campus and a hotel, as the appointment was early in the morning. I understood it was a day surgery—no mention of PATS.
Turns out the procedure was a local anesthetic and subdermal implant, over in under 20 minutes. I am unsure why it couldn't have been done in Kalgoorlie.
Within a week, my parent's app, which they had been given and connected to the sensor, showed fluttering in their heart. I took my parent to the ER, and tests showed their heart was normal while at the ER. We were both told that a follow-up by Western Cardiology, who would be monitoring the sensor, would be made if there was an issue, and we were sent home. This was in April.
My parent has refused to go wait in the ER when experiencing heart fluttering, dizziness, and nausea, as they were under the belief that it was being monitored and if there was an issue, they would be contacted.
My parent's health has declined dramatically since April, requiring their Aged Care Home Care to move two levels, with falls happening two to three times a week.
Recently, my parent fell from bed and could not rise.
The nect day, I rang Outpatients Kalgoorlie, who advised me to ring Western Cardiologists. They had no record of a referral to Joondalup, the sensor being placed, and the receptionist happily made an appointment so that they could "assess" what was going on in the middle of December. I feel sure, given my experience with outpatients for myself and those I care for, the appointment will be rescheduled for February or possibly later, so close to a year since my parent's previous appointment.
Spoiler alert, my parent has a sensor and the app that goes with it, so a referral did already happen, so I believe it's no point telling me that no record exists of that happening.
"Outpatient specialist care"
About: Kalgoorlie Health Campus / Emergency Department Kalgoorlie Health Campus Emergency Department Kalgoorlie 6430 Kalgoorlie Health Campus / Kalgoorlie Outpatient Clinic Kalgoorlie Health Campus Kalgoorlie Outpatient Clinic Kalgoorlie 6430 WA Country Health Service WA Country Health Service Perth 6000 http://www.wacountry.health.wa.gov.au/index.php?id=433&no_cache=1
Posted by Wishididntcare (as ),
Responses
See more responses from Hamish Burton