This is Care Opinion [siteRegion]. Did you want Care Opinion [usersRegionBasedOnIP]?
Care Opinion

PathWest

Posted By Needing a facelift

"PathWest"

About: PathWest Margaret River Collection Centre

(as the patient),

I attended Margaret River Hospital for my routine blood test, on this occasion there were many people in front of me for PathWest.  It was obvious then, that many of these people had been waiting a while already. 

During my wait only four patients were seen in an hour, in saying this, one was a small child. I understand that both staff may have been required to take the child's blood, I have been in those shoes so I get it!  After waiting over an hour a staff member from PathWest came out and said, they were leaving to go to another practice and that it may be quicker to go there.

My blood test requires a medication trough be taken so normally I need to have my bloods taken at a prescribed time, so looking at the queue in front of me, I decided I would try my luck at the other premise. Unfortunately the queue was just as long, so I didn't have my blood test this day.  I headed home, a round trip of over 100km.

If this is how busy PathWest  is now in Margaret River maybe they should consider putting on extra staff in the mornings to cope with the number of attendees.

More about:
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Marion Cutforth, a/General Manager, Regional Services, PathWest Laboratory Medicine 5 years ago
Marion Cutforth
a/General Manager, Regional Services,
PathWest Laboratory Medicine

Responsible for laboratories and services in laboratories at Armadale, Bentley, Osborne Park and throughout regional WA

Submitted on 26/03/2019 at 8:03 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 27/03/2019 at 10:45 AM

Dear Needing a facelift,

I am sorry to hear that you experienced several delays whilst attending our specimen collection centres at Margaret River Hospital and Station Road Medical Centre. This matter has been investigated by the Scientist in Charge of these centres and he has advised that the wait time at the Station Road Medical Centre was not long on this particular day. The facility is located within a doctor’s surgery and it was stated that the waiting room was full however, many of the patients were waiting to see the doctors at the Medical Centre.

We do try and work on a metric of approximately 10 minutes per patient, but this very much depends on complexity of tests requested, and other variables. As you mentioned there was a small child requiring a collection and this likely affected the waiting time on that morning.

Your suggestion of extra staff is appreciated and PathWest will be performing a review of the workload, workflow and staff numbers in an effort to reduce waiting times for patients.

We apologise for the delays that you experienced and would also like to encourage you to advise the collection staff on arrival if your test is time sensitive such as a trough level for medication. We understand that it is essential to take these levels at prescribed times and endeavor to achieve this for all patients.

Thank you for taking the time to bring these matters to our attention.

Mrs Marion Cutforth

Acting General Manager Regional Network

PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA

Phone QEII 6457 7230

Mobile 0417 935 047

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Response from Tracy Dixon, A/General Manager, QEII Network, PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA 5 years ago
We have made a change
Tracy Dixon
A/General Manager, QEII Network,
PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA

Responsible for oversight of laboratories at QEII, KEMH and PCH as well as the collection centres, transport and processing of pathology samples

Submitted on 15/04/2019 at 4:58 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 16/04/2019 at 8:59 AM

picture of Tracy Dixon

Dear Needing a facelift,

Since reading your story we have recently made some changes at our Margaret River collection point. This has included installation of label printers, which should assist us in reducing patient wait times by making the collection and labelling process more efficient.

Kind regards,

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k