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"Hospital stay and moving wards"

About: Armadale Hospital

(as the patient),

I had a double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction due to breast cancer. 

On the last night of my 3-night stay, I was told I would be moving wards. 

I was moved to the 24-hour ward which consisted of 6 beds. This now consisted of males and females. From what I heard most of them had some nasal surgery. 

Once moved, the nurse looked at my dressings, the curtains weren’t fully drawn so anyone could have seen. Then 3 out of the 6 patients starting snoring so loud that I believe another patient went and slept in the transient lounge on a recliner.

Another male woke up frequently swearing. The nurse sat at the desk right by my bed shuffling paperwork for hours. I did eventually get upset and asked to go home which the nurse said I couldn’t do but provided some earplugs which still didn’t block out the noise. Eventually, I put my headphones on turned them right up and drifted off. In the middle of the night, I woke up to go to the toilet to find the nurse asleep at the desk. 

My main concern I was already in a fragile state after having a mastectomy then to be put into a ward with men and other patients who had minor procedures, I feel, compared to mine made me feel very vulnerable.  I already was not in the best mental state and this pushed me over the edge. 

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Responses

Response from Diane Barr, Executive Director, Armadale Kalamunda Group 4 years ago
Diane Barr
Executive Director,
Armadale Kalamunda Group
Submitted on 25/11/2019 at 5:21 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 5:27 PM


picture of Diane Barr

Dear capellazp48,

Thank you for sharing your story. Firstly let me wish you all the best with your health care journey. Undergoing a double mastectomy is a life changing experience and I am saddened to hear that in our 23 Hour Ward you felt incredibly vulnerable. This is not the experience I would wish for any of our patients.

Your feedback has been sent to the Nurse Unit Manager of the ward and the Director of Nursing. They will discuss your feedback with the team to raise awareness of how a mixed ward can make a patient feel and to be more sensitive to patients who have experienced major surgery.

I wish to assure you that we are taking your feedback seriously. If you would like to discuss your concerns, please contact our Consumer Liaison Officer on (08) 9391 1153 or AKG_ConsumerLiaison@health.wa.gov.au

Di Barr

Executive Director

Armadale Kalamunda Group

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