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Care Opinion

Long waiting times between appointments

Posted By authenticcy75

"Long waiting times between appointments"

About: Exmouth Community Health Service Exmouth Health Service / Emergency Department

(as the patient),

I used to live a few hours away from Exmouth where I could see the same person regularly and build a relationship where they knew my health situation. The nurse I saw would liaise with the doctors and offer an opinion with what should be done for me.

Here in Exmouth, I feel I have to see a different doctor almost every time I visit. I often book an appointment once a month, regardless of if I need one, just in case I might get sick as the waiting time to see a doctor is quite often one month.

If something pops up unexpectedly I have to wait in ER for hours, sometimes just to get antibiotics for an unforeseen infection.

I've had some bad experiences with doctors here who just seem to me to be in a hurry to get through the backlog of patients.

I feel Exmouth would benefit from a private practice where I could build a rapport with a General Practitioner who was there year-round. 

 

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Responses

Response from WA Country Health Service Midwest 4 years ago
WA Country Health Service Midwest

Submitted on 23/09/2019 at 7:26 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 24/09/2019 at 9:01 AM

Dear authenticcy75,

Thank you for taking the time to write to us with your concerns about long waiting times for GP appointments and in our Emergency Department (ED) and a lack of continuity of seeing the same GP for your care at Exmouth Hospital.

The WA Country Health Service provides GP services in Exmouth as there is not a private GP service in town. Exmouth Hospital regularly monitors waiting times and aims to minimise them where possible for both the GP service and the ED through rostering and engaging a fourth doctor for tourist season from April to October. I am sorry to hear that you haven’t had a positive experience and would be grateful if you would contact us to discuss your concerns further. If you would like to contact us, please phone or email Tamara Sweeney, Operations Manager Gascoyne, on 9941 0301 or Tamara.Sweeney@health.wa.gov.au. Alternatively you can contact me on 9956 8695 or liz.kelly@health.wa.gov.au.

Your feedback helps us improve our services to better meet the needs of our consumers and we would value being able to continue this conversation with you.

Kind regards

Liz

A/Coordinator of Executive Services

WACHS Midwest

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