"Hope and pray that the doctor involved becomes more compassionate and caring."

Experience at Joondalup Health Campus

Our daughter was taken to Joondalup Health Campus as she had fractured her leg during a seizure. It had been splinted very carefully by the ambulance officers who were particularly careful to give her pain alleviation before the splint was applied.

The doctor who admitted her, completely ignored our entreaties not to try to find veins in her arms. She has had radical treatments and they are virtually non-existent. We asked for an anaesthetist as they are the only ones who seem to be able to find the fine veins in her hands. Nevertheless, her arms were stabbed multiple times without success.

The same doctor then had her taken to another cubicle where gas was available. The doctor then proceeded to strip the splint from her leg and appeared to tried to force a tubegauze stocking onto it prior to plastering it. She was in total agony, trying desperately to breathe the gas which seemed to be useless. Even so, being very compliant, attempted to turn over when the doctor told her to 'turn on your belly'. I tried to support her leg which had been left dangling by both the doctor and nurse as they were trying to organise the plaster bandage.

Fortunately another nurse came behind the curtain and after she went away, the procedure was suddenly stopped. We didn't see the doctor again, and our daughter was taken back to the original cubicle, where we were in complete shock, distress, disbelief and anger.

Sometime later, the orthopaedic surgeon arrived and told us that our daughter had a severe spiral fracture and needed surgery as soon as possible.

An anaesthetist arrived and found the vein in her hand and admission proceeded.

The rest of her stay was good except that the dressing on her leg was not changed for nine days. We mentioned this and it was attended to.

This has been the first time I have been able to talk about the experience as I still have flash-backs to the traumatic event, I weep as I remember our daughter's treatment, pain and distress, and hope and pray that the doctor involved becomes more compassionate and caring.