Care Opinion

Text size

Theme

Language

Help with language translation
Help with reading or listening

Internal communications about medication

Posted By rainpp73

"Internal communications about medication"

About: Royal Perth Hospital / Renal (Nephrology) & Urology & Endocrine Medicine & Ward 6A/6B/6C Royal Perth Hospital / Stomach, Bowel and Liver Care (Gastroenterology and Hepatology)

(as the patient),

I am currently an outpatient with two separate departments at RPH.

I recently saw a registrar with the renal department who informed me they suspected that the damage to my kidney was caused by a medication prescribed to treat my reflux.

I subsequently saw a registrar with gastroenterology who wanted to put me back on a drug from the same family.

I was advised to contact Renal myself to see if they were okay with this.

I eventually spoke to someone from renal and was advised not to take the medication.

Surely, in my opinion, doctors working within RPH should have some method of consulting one another?

Surely I believe a patient with a chronic condition that might put them on a transplant list should have some single point of call in the system that can coordinate care?

If you're curious about how I feel about this, I feel that I can't trust doctors at RPH to not do harm to me.

More about:
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Ben Noteboom, Executive Director, Royal Perth Bentley Group 2 months ago
Ben Noteboom
Executive Director,
Royal Perth Bentley Group

Submitted on 14/04/2026 at 3:11 PM
Published on Care Opinion Australia at 4:40 PM

picture of Ben Noteboom

Dear rainpp73

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. I am very sorry to hear how this experience has impacted on your trust in the doctors at RPH.

As I am not aware of your specific health journey, I cannot comment on your specific case. However, I agree that when a patient is under the care of more than one specialty, there should be clear and effective communication between the teams involved. Patients should not feel responsible for mediating clinical discussions, especially when the consequences may impact long‑term health.

Your expectation that there be better coordination of care is entirely reasonable. Situations such as the one you describe highlight how gaps in communication can undermine trust and leave patients feeling exposed to harm.

It is particularly concerning to hear that this experience has affected your confidence in the care being provided. Your feedback is important in helping services understand real-life impact that their actions can have on patients.

I have shared your experience with the renal and gastroenterology teams, and I am hopeful this feedback leads to meaningful reflection and improvement within our service.

Kind Regards

Ben Noteboom (he/him)

Executive Director

Royal Perth Bentley Group

East Metropolitan Health Service

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

Update posted by rainpp73 (the patient)

Hi,

I'd just like to address one part of your reply.

"I have shared your experience with the renal and gastroenterology teams, and I am hopeful this feedback leads to meaningful reflection and improvement within our service."

In my opinion this makes it sound like the solution to problem of one team not having a method of talking to the other team in a timely way is for the two teams to reach out to one another.

A kind of bottom-up solution to a coordination problem.

The health service is surely a structured as a hierarchy, not a cooperative. Suggesting that this is something that needs to be resolved at a higher level.

Regards, etc...

Update posted by rainpp73 (the patient)

Just to add injury to insult.

I've now had my follow up consult with Gastro pushed back by 6 weeks.

No explanation, just pushed back.

Response from Ben Noteboom, Executive Director, Royal Perth Bentley Group last month
Ben Noteboom
Executive Director,
Royal Perth Bentley Group

Submitted on 7/05/2026 at 4:05 PM
Published on Care Opinion Australia at 4:38 PM

picture of Ben Noteboom

Dear rainpp73

Thank you for the update, and I’m sorry to hear your appointment has been delayed without explanation. I understand how frustrating this must be, especially given your earlier concerns.

You should receive clear communication about any changes to your care. I will share this feedback with the team, including the need to better explain delays to patients.

Kind regards

Ben Noteboom (he/him)

Executive Director

Royal Perth Bentley Group

East Metropolitan Health Service

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k