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"Broome Maternity Ward"

About: Broome Health Campus / Maternity/Midwifery

(as the patient),

Hi, I wanted to give feedback in regards to my stay I had in the maternity ward of Broome Hospital recently.

Firstly I'd like to note I had fantastic care from the MGP (Maternity Group Practice) midwives, surgical team and ward midwives, in particular the night shift staff who were fantastic and prompt.

However it's not the first child I've had at Broome Hospital, so I've had plenty of experience with the maternity ward and the same issue unfortunately arises with each visit. It's the issue of the room size to bed ratios. There are rooms with two beds which clearly should never have two beds in there as it just doesn't work from both a patient and staff perspective. I couldn't even fit my husband beside me whilst sharing with another patient as there wasn't the room for a chair (it was in line with dividing curtain)! I feel for the staff who have to work in the tight spaces with such an important and delicate job to do, especially considering there are only two delivery suites which means labouring women spill out into ward beds which isn't nice for anyone involved.

I understand it's a public hospital so no one should expect single bed rooms but in 2017 in a town like Broome, who services pregnant women from a large radius - as well as being a town that has a high number of births yearly for its population size - I think one could expect that multiple-bed rooms actually have the space for those beds allocated.

To support my opinion I'll add that my relative who works in a Victorian regional hospital noted that the size of Broome's maternity two-bed rooms are the size of Victoria's single-bed rooms so I do feel justified in my opinion even more so after hearing that.

In summary the staff are fantastic but this hospital and town deserves the maternity ward to be upgraded. The ED upgrade has been greatly appreciated by all and I know the maternity section would also be appreciated as its used by so many. Thank you for your time. From a mother who left after a short number of days (not ideal) as I couldn't handle not having space for my family to visit and help me post surgery.

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Responses

Response from Margi Faulkner, Operations Manager, Broome, WACHS - Kimberley 7 years ago
We are preparing to make a change
Margi Faulkner
Operations Manager, Broome,
WACHS - Kimberley
Submitted on 4/05/2017 at 2:42 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 3:40 PM


picture of Margi Faulkner

Dear Kimberley Muma,

Thank you for raising your concerns about room sizes in the Maternity Unit at Broome Hospital, and a warm welcome to your most recent family addition!

I would first like to say The Midwifery Group Practice program at Broome Hospital has been very successful in providing very positive patient experiences and we are certainly proud of the excellent care that mothers receive from our experienced midwives through this program. In fact, Karen, one our midwives is a Finalist in this year's WA Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards based on her work here in the Broome MGP.

However, as you have noted, an overhaul of the space allocated is required, and I can assure you there are ongoing plans for re-development of the unit, which include review of the volume and demand for the birthing suites and remodelling of the Maternity Unit within the hospital to incorporate more space. These are currently only at concept stage and therefore still quite a way off being realised.

I am pleased to hear the appreciation of the new Emergency Department, and I'm sure you can understand these sorts of improvements can be disruptive to service delivery, meaning they require careful planning around timing of implementation, as well as budget processes.

I hope you are enjoying some quality time with your new baby, and are recovering well from your operation.

Regards,

Margi Faulkner
Operations Manager, Broome Hospital

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