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"Admission / Communication"

About: Bentley Hospital

(as the patient),

Admission time was mid morning and I was advised that we would be at the hospital 3 to 4 hours, As that would give a discharge time of mid afternoon. I decided it was OK for my spouse to drive me home (an hour drive) during daylight as they were not comfortable driving at night on strange roads and the forecast weather conditions. On arrival at the hospital I was informed that my operation time was set 15 minutes before my original discharge time, and I would be discharged by night time. Surgery was delayed and I was discharged at night meaning my spouse had to drive me home in the dark in inclement weather. I realise that there is a priority list and that delays can occur. Had I been informed prior to admission that my surgery was not scheduled until later in the day I would have made alternate arrangements to have an other family member drive me home. This may seem like a minor problem but when you are dealing with senior citizens these issues can be magnified. I feel that the problem could have been avoided with a little more accurate pre-admission communication. While I was at the hospital I was well looked after and kept informed.

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Responses

Response from Lesley Bennett, Chief Executive, East Metropolitan Health Service 4 years ago
Lesley Bennett
Chief Executive,
East Metropolitan Health Service
Submitted on 20/06/2019 at 3:23 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 3:25 PM


picture of Lesley Bennett

Dear venuspg68,

Thank you for taking the time to provide us with this valuable feedback. I apologise that you and your spouse were put in this position. Without knowing the specifics of your operation I cannot offer an explanation for the change in time for your surgery, although as you say we do often need to delay scheduled procedures for emergency cases. We have worked very hard to improve our communication with patients and family around procedure times and now have a Communications Nurse who is tasked with updating patients on their waiting times for theatre and if there have been any changes to lists which may impact on them. However, on this occasion it seems that we have fallen short. So that we can learn from your experience to improve our service, can I ask that you please get in contact with our Consumer Engagement Unit on 9224 1637 and talk to one of the team members. Receiving your feedback through this formal channel will allow us to review the specifics of your case and how this occurred. Thank you again for taking the time to share your feedback.

Yours Sincerely

Dr Lesley Bennett

Executive Director

Royal Perth Bentley Group

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