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"Witnessed lack of patient care"

About: Older Adult Mental Health Ward 10A/10B/10C

(as other),

I just spent two hours visiting a patient in Bentley Hospital. I was trying to work out what the weird smell was. I was finally told by the patient that they went into the toilets early in the morning but there wasn’t any toilet paper. I believe they went and asked a staff member, I felt they seemed more interested in talking about their weekend plans. The patient went back to their room because I believe they felt they didn’t want to be a problem or cause any repercussions.

Apparently the patient's situation became so bad that they had to use the toilet regardless. Being, I believe, cognitively impaired and fecally incontinent they then had to search for something to clean themselves with.

Congratulations are in order to the staff in ward 10B, I don't know whether it was laziness, incompetence or lack of training. You have had a patient walking around with human poo stuck to their foot that I believe they tried to scrape off with their fingernails.

So far I believe the patient had touched a chair, the fridge in the visitors room, the door handle to the ward, a pen they gave back to a staff member and quite possibly a few other things when I left!

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Responses

Response from Lesley Bennett, Chief Executive, East Metropolitan Health Service 4 years ago
Lesley Bennett
Chief Executive,
East Metropolitan Health Service
Submitted on 8/01/2020 at 7:02 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 9/01/2020 at 9:55 AM


picture of Lesley Bennett

Dear cricketpg66,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us with your experience. I am saddened to hear the course of events when you visited this patient and it is far from the standard of care and compassion we strive for in our hospitals.

We are undertaking an investigation and specifically have commenced a review into routine cleaning and restocking of bathrooms in that area to ensure that every patient has access to the basic hygiene items they need, and that all staff respond quickly and appropriately to requests for assistance.

Thank you for letting me know of your experience at BHS and giving us the opportunity to resolve the problem.

If you would like to discuss your concerns place contact the RPBG Consumer Engagement Unit on phone 9224 1637, 8 am to 4 pm Monday to Friday. Or via email RPBG.feedback@health.wa.gov.au

Sincerely

Dr Lesley Bennett

Executive Director

Royal Perth Bentley Group

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