"Care received for Knee Surgery"

Firstly it must be said upfront that 95% of interactions were extremely positive; the vast majority of staff were supportive and professional, and made you feel highly cared for.

The following were some exceptions…

Tue - rang Joint Replacement Nurse with a couple questions, the first one got answered, happy with that. The second: as I had not been informed of my admission time, so enquired if they could tell me? “No, we don’t know, but if you don’t hear anything by end of today then assume it is in morning.” I felt disappointed that my admission time wasn’t confirmed, or wasn’t offered the phone number of a staff member who did know the answer.

According to documents provided, one says morning admission is 06:00 another 06:30. Which one is correct?

Fri -  day of operation.

06:15 dropped off at entry to Day Admissions only to discover a long queue of other patients out the door spilling onto driveway. Shocked for three reasons:

1) why were so many patients arriving at the same time of day, particularly as there was not adequate seats available in the front waiting area? Surely with technology today it isn’t that hard to stagger admission times for everyone?

2) Frequently we are being asked if we have cold or flu symptoms, and yet here we all are standing outside in cold at risk of developing symptoms!

3) Perhaps a Security Guard or other senior staff could ask those outside to form an orderly queue along length of building, against windows, away from driveway, where it’s safer? If this is a regular occurrence, perhaps paint something outside entry door for this purpose.

06:25 inside speaking with Admissions clerk, was told I was #3 on the list and “wouldn’t be waiting long”. Well, got my hopes up unnecessarily, as turned into a 7 hour wait! Surely I could have been admitted closer 09:00, thus able to arrive by public transport or alternate instead of paying for a share ride!

Once admitted into the patient waiting room, discovered that there was near zero mobile phone reception! Please warn us about this prior, advise which mobile service providers are affected. Otherwise provide free Wi-fi?

Where could we charge our phone, within eyesight of our chair? Eventually located a power socket hidden behind a partition, but wasn’t obvious.

Here we patients are, hungry from fasting, yet on the TV tuned to channel 7 pumping ad’s for pizza and other food! It felt like torture! Perhaps consider switch it to ABC-News 24, or have a waiting area away from a TV?

Sat - supplied my medication just prior to discharge, with two having similar names: “Tapentadol” & “Tramadol”. My only concern is that those of us with poor eyesight, in height of pain, risk taking the wrong one. Perhaps include brand name on instructions, reduce confusion?

Otherwise, from what I can see so far, the surgery was a success. The majority of staff provided 5-star service, deserve a bonus.