"Staff attitude and patient care"

The hospital was advised that we were coming. My father came directly off a plane from overseas and we bought him straight to the ED at Box Hill Hospital - it was a stressful situation. He had Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. We waited many hours - I had to actually burst into tears before anyone took notice of us. I told the nurse that my father was in the middle of chemotherapy treatments and I was frightened that his current condition was life-threatening. She asked me if she should bring him a mask? I advised her that she was the nurse, not me. My father sat in a wheelchair in the waiting room area - slumped over - for hours... the mask sat in his hand.

We finally got admitted into the ED and then waited until midnight (after a 1pm arrival time) before my Dad got some treatment. The doctor in charge seemed inexperienced and she said she had to wait until midnight when another doctor could come in to show her how to drain my father's abdomen of the fluid build up he had.

In the ED my father said something to the nurse and I rolled my eyes because he was being a bit long-winded in his response (that's what daughters do) - the nurse told me to stop rolling my eyes at her! I couldn't believe her attitude towards me. I left the area and went and had a cry outside.

My father passed away - this would have happened anyway as the cancer took control. The ED department had no blame in his death - I just wish, looking back, that he had been treated quicker and that we, as a family had been treated with more respect.