"Treatment for an infected finger"

Dear violetsc73,

Thank you for sharing your experience with the care you received at the Northampton Hospital. I was pleased to read that that you were able to access the care you required in Northampton and did not have to undertake a long trip away from home.

The Telehealth service you mentioned is the Emergency Telehealth Service (ETS) which is a wonderful service that uses videoconferencing equipment to connect local doctors and nurses with highly trained, emergency medicine specialists. The emergency medicine specialist is linked via videoconference, providing guidance to the local treating team. A consultation with an ETS doctor is just like any other ‘in person’ consultation and allows us to provide high-quality specialist care close to home.

In regards to your wait to receive care, the Northampton Hospital uses the Australian Triage Scale system to prioritise patients based on how unwell they are, which includes the level of discomfort that you were experiencing. When you arrive at the Emergency Department either by ambulance, Royal Flying Doctor Service, by yourself or with your family or carer, a Triage Nurse will assess the urgency of your condition.

You will be given a rating from one to five, with category one being patients in need of the most urgent care. You can always ask the Triage Nurse what rating you have been given. If you are critically ill or have life-threatening injuries you will be taken immediately into the Department for treatment and care. If you have less urgent clinical needs you will either be made comfortable in a treatment area or asked to go to the waiting area. Unfortunately, on some occasions, there may be a wait.

Thanks again for taking the time to write, we really appreciate your feedback. I do hope you have recovered well and I wish you all the very best.

Kind regards

Michele