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Pain medication

Posted By No sleep

"Pain medication"

About: Armadale Hospital

(as the patient),

I had a recent visit to the Armadale Hospital. 

When I came out of the operation and I was in my bed in my room. It was about 7pm and the pain block I was given in theatre wore off. I alerted nursing staff I was in pain and they gave me Tramadol and after a while I still was in severe pain and I alerted the nursing staff of the situation. They said there was nothing else written up for pain. So they tried to give me Oxycontin and tried to give it to me in the little cup. So I said I am allergic to this medication and they said that there was nothing else they could give me. They would have call they doctor on duty and this took till about 4.30 or 5.30 am.

So from this I had no sleep all night and was very hot all night and sweating all night. Also the nurse buzzer was going off a lot of times during the night.

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Responses

Response from Diane Barr, Executive Director, Armadale Kalamunda Group 5 years ago
Diane Barr
Executive Director,
Armadale Kalamunda Group

Submitted on 30/04/2018 at 4:24 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 4:50 PM

picture of Diane Barr

Dear No sleep,

Thank you for getting in touch and I am very sorry to hear of your recent experience at Armadale Hospital.

I wholeheartedly apologise that you experienced post-operative pain that was not able to be adequately managed that resulted in an uncomfortable overnight stay in hospital. It must have been extremely distressing.

Ensuring patients’ pain levels are monitored and well controlled is a critical aspect of the care we aim to provide to every patient every time. It is normally our practice for surgical patients to be prescribed appropriate pain relief for post-operative pain. This is usually done by the anaesthetist in theatres and should be checked by staff prior to transferring the patient to the ward. Your feedback on your experience has been provided to the Head of Anaesthetics and the Senior Nursing team. They have expressed their sincere disappointment that we did not meet your needs in the way we always intend to.

I also share your concern that you were offered medication that you indicated you were allergic to. Acknowledging the seriousness of this, we are again very disappointed. As a health service committed to safety and quality systems we do routine audits on documentation of potential drug allergies and sensitivities. As a result of your feedback I have asked our quality team to review the audit process and ensure our staff are checking the patient’s medication chart for documented allergies prior to every administration.

It must have been a terrible night for you while awaiting a medical review. We have provided a general reminder to all the nursing staff that the hospital has a duty anaesthetist overnight to offer further pain management support when required.

Finally I would like to say thank you for your feedback. Our doctors and nurses are fully committed to providing an optimum patient experience. We need to know when we get it wrong and your feedback is invaluable in ensuring our continuous commitment to improving the patient experience.

If you would like to get in touch with us to have an expanded discussion on your concerns, you can arrange a face-to-face meeting by contacting our Consumer Liaison Officer on (08) 9391 1153 or email AKG_ConsumerLiaision@health.wa.gov.au

Best wishes

Di Barr
Executive Director
Armadale Kalamunda Group

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