My father was taken to Emergency at Box Hill Hospital this evening. He has a long history with hospital: he suffered from an on-going condition a few years ago, and has recently been diagnosed with cancer. All throughout those treatments, the staff of Box Hill were absolutely amazing, caring, and I honestly can't say enough good things about them.
Tonight, however, was a different story. He was taken in for a severe migraine that wasn't responding to his normal migraine medication. In the ER, he was given Largactil to ease the migraine, and was very mentally hazy. Good news: it helped with the migraine. Bad news: my mother left briefly, and my father was discharged by the ER in her absence. He had no shoes, no wallet, no phone, and was very clearly mentally impaired from the drugs.
When my mother returned to the hospital, the receptionist told her that he had been discharged, and that they didn't know where he was. She found him outside, sitting on the ground.
I am normally incredibly grateful to this hospital for their amazing staff, so this has left me shocked. What if he'd gotten confused and wandered off? They had no way of knowing how long my mother would be gone. Is there no way of ensuring that a patient has a safe way of getting home before they are discharged? In the end, my father got home safely, but this has raised serious concerns in me about the discharging policies in the ER, and the misfortune that could have very easily happened with my heavily drugged father being turned loose with nothing but the clothes on his back.
"My father was irresponsibly discharged from Emergency."
About: Box Hill Hospital Box Hill Hospital Box Hill 3128
Posted by RizAus (as ),
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Update posted by RizAus (a relative) 9 years ago
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