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Hospital stay

Posted By starpg56

"Hospital stay"

About: Bunbury Hospital Warren Hospital

(as a parent/guardian),

I am the parent of a teenage Type 1 Diabetic who was admitted to hospital 2 Emergency Departments (ED) in the past week, Manjimup and Bunbury Regional Hospital.

I would like to put in a formal complaint about my child's care whilst in hospital. As the parent of a Type 1 Diabetic, I feel we were not treated with care from the clinicians.  I feel that regional hospitals need to be more informed in the practice of caring for, and the medical side of, a diabetic patient.

I felt I was ignored and told everything was ok. We waited for days, not hours, to get results we needed and I had to support the nursing staff to get the right care for my teenager.

I had to make phone calls to another hospital's Diabetes Unit to get the paediatricians to liaise with the specialists for the care of my child. I believe the nursing staff trying to work with the plan from the specialists were battered down from the surgical clinicians, who, in my opinion, have not a clue in the care of Juvenile Diabetes.

I was not at all happy with the care for my child (from surgical clinicians) and felt they treated my child like a piece of meat and didn't give a thought about the underlying disease my child has. And the severity of it. 

The nursing staff, on the other hand, were more than amazing. They assisted myself and my child in the source of getting the senior clinician to get things happening, in terms of scans to get answers and consulting with specialists.

My own family suffered trauma for days, sick with worry and stress on the whole family.

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Responses

Response from Glen Matters, Operations Manager Bunbury Hospital, WACHS South West 4 years ago
Glen Matters
Operations Manager Bunbury Hospital,
WACHS South West

Submitted on 23/12/2019 at 1:57 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 2:06 PM

picture of Glen Matters

Dear starpg56,

Please accept my sincere apology for your family’s recent experience and thank you for taking the time out to tell us about your concerns during this difficult and stressful time for your family. I hope your child is now recovering well.

As health service providers, we appreciate that the parents of a child who has a chronic condition, recognise, understand and respond to the child’s condition, on a daily basis.

I am very sorry to hear that your observations, advice and guidance were not appreciated. It is most important for clinical teams to understand the importance of parental knowledge and experience and I will seek to ensure that our clinical teams learn from your experience.

As such, I extend my personal invitation to you to call me to discuss in more detail, so as to ensure that the improvements to be made, address all the concerns. My direct number is 9722 1421 or alternatively, our Customer Liaison Officer on 9722 1521, can be contacted to arrange this.

At all WA Country Health - South West hospitals, there is a process in place which allows family friends to the patients, to escalate concerns about the care being provided or, for example, if you feel the healthcare team has not fully recognised a changing health condition. The service is called “ Care Call” and it can be accessed by calling 1800 744 059 (available 24hrs, 7 days). The call will be answered by a member of our senior management team who will be able to provide you with support and guidance and, if necessary, facilitate a medical review of the patient's care.

From the information you have provided, I have asked Dr Jacinta Cover, Head of Department of General Surgery to provide education to the General Surgery team on the guidelines and protocols of peri-operative management of children with Type 1 Diabetes. Dr Cover has also assured me that education on improving the inter-speciality communication and shared care of complex patients will be addressed.

I appreciate your kind words of praise for our nursing staff. We have a terrific team of dedicated, professional and compassionate staff in the hospital and they will be delighted to receive your compliments.

I look forward to hearing from you and working with you to ensure we improve the services we offer to our patients and their families into the future.

Thanks again for posting your feedback on Patient Opinion and I would like to wish you and your family all the best during the festive season.

Regards

Glen Matters

Bunbury Hospital Operations Manager

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