"Stroke hospital care"

I had symptoms of a stroke and presented to outpatients at Peel Health Campus. The staff member I spoke to was the triage nurse and I felt they were totally disinterested in spite of me having had a minor stroke before and raised blood pressure and my vision was very poor. The staff member said it would be 8 hours. They dismissed us to sit in the waiting room where there were no chairs, no room. It was overflowing. There were kids rolling on the floor, I felt it was an absolute nightmare. I went and said I can’t say there’s nowhere to sit.

When we asked the staff member, they said you’ll be about 8 hours. I wasn’t prepared to stand against a wall without being able to see anything or sit on the floor. I stayed about half an hour. When I left, the staff member was looking at their nails and picking them. They didn’t acknowledge me or anything. I just walked out in distress. I feel the staff member should not be on triage.

I went home and my spouse gave me a Panadol. I was no better the next morning. Not sure if increased the bleeding or not.

My spouse called ambulance the next morning and we went straight to ED onto a trolley. I saw Dr Mo and from that minute on, I could not fault one thing. The care was excellent. The attention was excellent even though was very busy.

I had all the scans within the first day. Within the second day, we had a plan and I knew what had happened. The nurse in ward (Wheelen ward), Melissa was very, very kind. I arrived after spending 2 days in ED having not slept and was jaded. The first thing she did was look at me and said, I’m going to get a cup of tea. She made every effort for me.

All other nurses were very good too. I had obs every night and on time. They never missed on. The doctors continued to give me good care.