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"Lypoma removal with an extreme haircut and confusion over stay length"

About: Rockingham General Hospital / Day Procedure Unit

(as the patient),

I was booked in for an overnight stay recently for the removal of a large lypoma on the left side of my neck. I am 3+ months post left temporal meningioma tumour. I have several queries regarding my experience.

I do not know why I was booked for an overnight stay but I assume it was to ensure there were no complications in light of my recent medical history. I believe I went in for surgery at approximately 4pm and was back on the dpu ward approximately 6pm or earlier. I was discharged approximately 7.30 pm that night. I believe there has been a breakdown in communication regarding the length of my stay and would like a clear explanation of why I was told I will definitely be staying the night in the lead up to surgery and then told to go home less than 2 hours post op.

Also, I was notified in the 'holding bay' shortly before surgery they may need to shave a small amount of hair just above the incision. I agreed to the removal of a small amount of hair if it were needed. They shaved a quarter of my head and went nowhere near my hair line. To put this in perspective,I had a brain tumour removed recently and they only took a small amount of hair which was approximately 3 inches by 1 inch at the most. The amount of hair taken was, in my opinion, excessive and completely unnecessary. I felt there was absolutely no care taken to preserve any hair line. I can provide photos on request but I would like an explanation on why so much hair was taken for a surgery that was below/barely near the natural hair line. 

The staff were nice. The murdoch uni worker, Ade (something) was very attentive and friendly.

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Responses

Response from Asheila Narang, Executive Director, Rockingham Peel Group, South Metropolitan Health Service last month
Asheila Narang
Executive Director, Rockingham Peel Group,
South Metropolitan Health Service
Submitted on 2/02/2026 at 3:11 PM
Published on Care Opinion Australia at 4:31 PM


picture of Asheila Narang

Dear humanitiesmr57,

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. I am truly sorry to read of the issues you experienced at Rockingham General Hospital relating to your length of stay following your procedure and the excessive amount of hair removed which was not discussed with you.

I take these concerns you have raised very seriously, however without your personal details (and consent) I am unable to investigate this fully. I would like to investigate this for you as there is clearly areas we can improve and perhaps identify learning opportunities for staff and / or process improvement opportunities.

May I respectfully request that you contact our Consumer Liaison Team via rgh.feedback@health.wa.gov.au so that we may work through the issues you have identified, not only for your benefit but also as an opportunity to improve for the benefit of future patients.

Kind regards

Dr Asheila Narang

Executive Director
Rockingham Peel Group
South Metropolitan Health Service

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by humanitiesmr57 (the patient)

I have emailed through as requested.

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