"Early Pregnancy Service Angliss Hospital"

After receiving the gut wrenching news that my babies heart had stopped beating via ultrasound, I was referred to the Angliss hospital to see someone in the early pregnancy service to organise a D&C. Reception were friendly and helpful. When I finally got in to see the doctor he was friendly but I didn't get a great impression. He started off by saying that he's no specialist in this area as he is just going to be a GP and is required to do a stint in this area (I know that this is what happens with doctors and I know they need their training etc but probably to mention that you don't know what you are doing is not the best choice of first words to a traumitized couple who just want to be in good hands) throughout the consultation it just became more and more clear, I thought, that he had little knowledge in this area. I felt that I had more knowledge on the subject from talking to my GP and jumping on Google. I needed to keep prompting him to tell us information about the procedure / my situation. I had already been told by my own doctor that I needed a d&c because of my circumstances but he just couldn't tell me what I needed to do. He had to go and ask his boss a couple of times. While he was out of the room, my partner and I had already self diagnosed this as a 'missed miscarriage' based on the very simple information from a flyer on the wall. He came back to tell us this exact information but needed to find it out from his boss. On the desk in front of us there was other patient information on display. I could clearly see (without intentionally prying) that the women he saw prior to us also needed a d&c. I hate to think how their appointments went if I was the thrid person in a row with the same problem, needing the same procedure and it seemed he barely knew what to do. Beside this - I believe it is very unprofessional to have other patients records and information out on display for other patients to see. I felt I needed to keep prompting him to cover basic information with me such as the risks of having me wait 2 more days to have this procedure and the risk of infection. At the end of this whole ordeal, we left the office only to receive a call from him when we were almost out of the hospital asking for us to come back because he forgot to get us to sign consent. My husband and I had to laugh, because if we didn't we'd cry.

I am a big supporter of the public health system. I know there are wonderful people working in public hospitals. For that reason, I refused to go with private because I had big faith in the public system. After this one meeting with this one doctor, my partner and I walked out wondering if we had made a mistake. I then went on to have a wonderful experience with Yarra Ranges Health a couple of days later. I think we will stay with public health. At the end of the day, I can't let my one negative experience change my entire view and trust that I would receive great care in a public hospital.

I completely get that doctors need to train in different areas of health to gain experience and become knowledgeable, talented doctors. But maybe if a doctor is new to an area, it may be best for that doctor to have a measured response, maintain a professional and calming demeanor and don't mention their lack of experience and just front with a bit of confidence. People are coming in to see these doctors, sometimes on their darkest days, and they want to feel that they are in the best hands.