"Emergency Department"

I presented to the Emergency Department at Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) recently. After seeing my GP with severe neck pain that morning, they had decided it was best for me to go to RPH emergency because I was in the most severe pain I’ve ever felt in my life. My GP was concerned I would need scans done to investigate why I was in such severe pain and also so that the medical staff could get my pain under control because I was very distressed and could not move without being in intense pain. I presented with a note from my GP and after crying for a long time and being unable to sit upright due to my pain they let me through so that I could lie down. 

The staff were lovely and I appreciate everything they did but I do not appreciate the way I felt they stigmatised me and treated me. They kept assuring me they would get my pain under control as I was very upset at this point. I have lived with chronic pain every day of my life for the last 5-6 years and have never presented to the emergency dept for pain.

This time my pain was so severe I was very concerned for myself and so was my GP. I have never scored my pain 10/10 but this genuinely was the worst pain I had ever felt in my life. The staff attended to me and asked me for a history and left me lying in the ED for 3 to 4 hours before they finally offered me some form of pain relief. I would never wish anyone to be treated the way I was. I believe they judged me and assumed because I have chronic pain that I am just seeking medications. Or maybe they judged me because of the way I look. Maybe it is because I was alone and vulnerable and had no one to stand up for me. I tried to stand up for myself but no one took me seriously.

I see a private pain specialist and I have my prescriptions done through them - I do not have the need to present to hospital to try and obtain medication yet I believe this is how I was seen by the staff. They kept asking me how many times I present to the ED for pain and I told them this was the first time I have ever presented to the ED for pain, and I have been living with it for the past 5 to 6 years but this is the worst pain I’ve ever felt. Yet I could tell no one was taking me seriously.

They told me we can’t offer you pain relief because you are a complex case so we need the senior doctor to review. No senior doctor ever came to review me for the 3 to 4 hours I was there. I was just left crying and wincing in pain. At this point I felt like I didn’t matter and that no one cared about how distressed I was and how much pain I was in. 

I was disgusted at how poorly I was treated. I do believe the staff are great at what they do, but in this instance I feel I was judged and I believe I was not given a chance. The number one thing, I would think, would be to get my pain under control and get me settled, and then secondly try and address and find the cause of my pain. No one took me seriously, no one listened to me and I felt I was left suffering for hours.

One nurse came up to me and gave me a heat pack and was lovely and apologised for not being able to give me any pain relief. The nurse could see how upset I was and I was so grateful for them because they were one of the ones who I felt really cared and they weren't even the nurse looking after me. 

I would not wish anyone to ever experience what I felt. Imagine lying there in a bed alone, feeling the worst pain you’d ever experienced and staff seem more concerned about asking you unnecessary questions rather than trying to help control your pain.

My GP had said that if I went to hospital they could scan my neck and get everything sorted in the one place. They refused to do any scans and finally offered me basic pain meds after 3 to 4 hours but it just wasn’t good enough. I take different medication normally and I told them that but it was like they didn’t believe me. If I had have stayed home I could have taken my regular medication and been much more comfortable there than being in the hospital and letting my pain become unbearable. But I couldn’t stay home, because I was in the worst pain and could hardly move my neck and was concerned because I had never experienced a pain like this before.

My GP also told me to go straight to ED and I got picked up from the practice and taken straight to hospital. I didn’t have time to go home and get more of my medication. I had spent the whole morning at the doctors and then straight to the emergency. Even after I voiced my concerns, I feel no one listened to me. I didn’t receive any help and ended up discharging myself because I was disgusted in the way I was treated. I have a great respect for healthcare and I know how hard it can be. I still believe the staff are amazing, but I just believe this situation was handled so poorly.

I’m not usually one to complain, but I would hate for anyone else to be treated the way I was. I do understand there are people that abuse the system, but to judge someone and make assumptions like that was so horrible. I would never wish any of them to be in the most excruciating pain they’ve ever felt and then be left laying in hospital for hours without anyone giving them pain relief or trying to help them. It is a basic human right to be treated with respect, and I did not feel this was the case. 

I really respect RPH and the amazing staff and the great work they do, but in this case, I wish I never went there and I never ever want to go back there again. If they could gain one thing from this experience, I would want them to know that the staff can think twice before judging people. We all deserve to be cared for and looked after, and when someone is in so much pain they can hardly breathe, they should think that they could safely go to hospital and be cared for and looked after.

The stigma behind chronic pain is horrible. It becomes so unbearable that some days I struggle just to get through the day. For me to go to emergency for my pain means that it is really serious to me. I would never have gone but my GP insisted that I should. This could have so easily been avoided and had a much better ending. I’m sorry I had to go through this as it was one of the worst hospital experiences I have ever had and genuinely one of the worst days of my life.

I just wish people could view it from my perspective and treat patients with respect while refraining from judgement and assumptions. I hope that next time someone presents the way I did, that they are treated the way they should be and not left ignored and suffering.