"My Parent's Care"

Hello,

I am incredibly concerned and disappointed about the care my parent has received after having a surgery in your hospital.

My parent has an extensive cardiac history, including incredibly symptomatic response to atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter. On multiple occasions, my parent has been hospitalized due to AF and atrial flutter, as when this happens, they become extremely hypotensive and collapses. Considering my parent is anticoagulated; we definitely don’t want them collapsing and hitting their head.

After my parent’s previous surgeries, my parent has flipped into AF and Atrial flutter multiple times, and ends up in hospital, requiring chemical cardioversion. This fact was relayed to the surgeon and anaesthetist. In the pre-op meeting my parent had, with who they believed was their anaesthetist, the possibility of this surgery being done under a nerve block was discussed. I believe that performing this surgery under a nerve block as opposed to a general anaesthetic was going to put less stress on the heart, and ultimately, lower my parent's risk of going into a cardiac arrythmia. From my parent’s conversation with the anaesthetist, it sounded like this thought was agreed by all.

The contingency plan of going under general was discussed if the block failed, and my parent agreed to this, which again, sounded like a fair plan.

In the lead-up to this surgery, I consulted with nurse anaesthetist colleagues, for their opinion of the plan. They were able to confirm that this procedure is commonly done with a nerve block with sometimes some light sedation.

Now it has come to the day of my parent’s surgery, and we find out after the surgery, that my parent was put under a general anaesthetic with no attempt at completing the procedure with a nerve block. This has been incredibly distressing to myself, and my family, due to the previous cardiac events my parent has experienced post-operatively.

When my other parent went to pick them up, the person who discharged my parent, was a student nurse. Now, I love that student nurses get the opportunity to immerse themselves into the hospital environment and take responsibility for patients, however, this student was not able to answer any of the questions my parent had about the plans in place for if they had a cardiac event post op. When they asked what the plan was if my parent went into AF, this student responded, ‘what’s AF?’. At this point, my other parent (who is next of kin) should have been given the opportunity to speak to a qualified nurse and discuss contingency plans for their heart, and post-operative instructions and care. They were not given this opportunity. As my parent was still very drowsy from the anaesthetic, they had little knowledge/recollection of the post-op instructions.

Halfway home, my parent announced that a nurse at the hospital said they should have been admitted post-op, to have their heart monitored, ‘but they didn’t have the beds’.

I am acutely aware of the bed pressures experienced by WA Health, but bed pressures aren’t an excuse for discharging a high-risk patient.

As I am writing this, my parent is in the back of an ambulance being transferred to their local hospital for ongoing cardiac care.

I am incredibly concerned about the events of this day, and would like some answers as to why my parent's surgery was completed under general anaesthetic with no attempt at completing with a nerve block, why they were even discharged after being told they needed to be admitted, and why my other parent wasn’t given the opportunity to speak to a nurse at discharge.