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I didn't feel listened too, and ignored.

Posted By Abscess not a bunion

"I didn't feel listened too, and ignored."

About: Royal Melbourne Hospital / Emergency Department

(as the patient),

I was admitted with an abscess on my foot. When the doctor looked at it he simply told me there was nothing he could do. He told me it was a bunion. I have five letters from 5 podiatrists that it's not a bunion. I was sent home by the ED doctor with nothing. I feel the doctors I saw don't care and don't know what they are doing. I was told it's a bunion when it was diagnosed by several other external doctors who all agreed it is abscess not a bunion. I would like a reply from the ED department of the Royal Melbourne Hospital please. I would like to know is why I was turned away knowing that it wasn't a bunion but an abscess on my foot. I felt useless and wanted to kill myself. I was told by the doctor to buy better shoes and it was a bunion. Later I ended up back in the ED. It was an abscess not a bunion. I am really angry and wonder if the doctors who attended me are actually qualified or are they hiring anyone?  I will be calling the head of the Royal Melbourne Hospital.  Should I have gone to Kmart for treatment instead?

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Responses

Response from George Braitberg, Executive Director Strategy, Quality and Improvement, Melbourne Health 5 years ago
George Braitberg
Executive Director Strategy, Quality and Improvement,
Melbourne Health

Submitted on 23/04/2019 at 11:30 AM
Published on Care Opinion at 11:35 AM

picture of George Braitberg

Dear Abscess not a bunion,

I am very sorry to her about your experience. As you can appreciate we will need more information to be able to look into your concerns further and I would encourage you to contact our consumer liaison service via the following email link: consumerliaison@mh.org.au

I can address some of the issues you raised in a general manner until we are able to look into your experience more specifically. We encourage all our staff to actively listen to patients and I apologise if you felt this did not occur. It is never acceptable for someone to feel they have been treated disrespectfully or with a dismissive attitude.

Let me assure you that our doctors are trained and well supervised, Junior doctors are supervised by senior consultants to ensure that assessment and management is appropriate and evidence based. The Emergency Department at RMH is a sought after employer for doctors seeking to specialise in emergency medicine from across Victoria and internationally because of our teaching program and the level supervision we provide to training doctors. I am sorry your experience did not reflect this.

Your feedback teaches us that we need to listen more closely to what our patients and consumers tell us. I am sorry that you were so distressed and hope that you contact us with your details soon.

Regards,

George Braitberg

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