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Outstanding and hard-working staff

Posted By Butterfly

"Outstanding and hard-working staff"

About: Perth Children's Hospital / Eating Disorders Program - Clinic K

(as a parent/guardian),

I would like to congratulate and acknowledge how hard I feel all the staff in the EDP on level 2 work. The ward clerks are friendly, helpful, kind and caring and always greet us with a smile. It is much appreciated. They follow up with us and do their best to keep us informed and help us access appointments that suit us as often as possible.

Our Care Coordinator, Desley, is professional, compassionate, well informed, helpful and attentive. She has guided us through some very challenging circumstances and has been a calming presence. She follows up and she keeps us in the loop and is always willing to make time to support us.

Dr K has been very supportive, kind, firm and gentle at times and very encouraging. Our adolescent has grown to appreciate her and respect her and to willingly attend medicals knowing she is our doctor.

Dr M has just joined the team. How fortunate we are. She is a dream come true in my opinion - kind, articulate, compassionate, caring, warm, calm, funny and has quickly formed a strong report with our adolescent.

Dieticians, Helen and Robyn have been incredibly patient, tolerant and supportive. I believe they have such a difficult job and they do it so well.

We would love to hear that all the staff are shown appreciation and support of the bloody hard work I believe they do. We hope they are supported and given the resources and ability to continue the amazing and vital work they do.

As a consumer - it would be such a bonus if the hours of the staff were increased. It would be much appreciated if some staff were available until 7pm and even on a weekend. Trying to fit in the appointments around school hours can be a real struggle.

If Medicals could take place from 0700 til 1300 one day and another 1300 til 1900, I believe it would be a real help to so many families. And a Saturday clinic with the option of seeing a psychologist/psychiatrist would also be appreciated.

When the staff are looking at further planning, please take this suggestion seriously and do your best to make it happen, increase the hours. I feel it's time!

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Responses

Response from Kavitha Vijayalakshmi, Medical Co-Director, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Child and Adolescent Health Service 4 years ago
Kavitha Vijayalakshmi
Medical Co-Director, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services,
Child and Adolescent Health Service

Submitted on 26/02/2020 at 12:38 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 1:24 PM

Dear Butterfly,

Thank you for taking the time to recognise the efforts of all the very special people who are part of our Eating Disorders Service at Perth Children’s Hospital.

I am heartened to hear of your family’s great experience accessing the service and that you feel your child is in good hands. The Child and Adolescent Health Service (CAHS) is a values-based organisation and caring for staff and fostering joy in what we do is one of our key priorities.

A review of the Eating Disorders Service commenced in 2019. This review has been informed by the wants and needs of families such as yours and will result in an even better service that is evidenced-based and in line with best practice internationally.

Your suggestion to extend our clinic hours to cater better to school hours and work hours is a great one and it would be fantastic if CAHS is in a position to introduce an extended hours Eating Disorders Service in future. We will know more about what the future Eating Disorder Service will look like when the review is complete and the new model of care has been finalised. Staff and families have been extensively consulted throughout the review process and continue to guide the review’s outcomes.

Our Eating Disorder Service work closely with our Community Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) teams and General Practitioners (GPs). Wherever possible, we share the care of young people who are attending our services. We strive to communicate with the young person’s GP at every stage of their journey. Sharing care with Community CAMHS and GPs minimises disruption to the lives of the young people accessing our service by ensuring that they do not need to travel unnecessarily, can continue to attend school and maintain their social contacts. It is not unusual for children and young people to be transferred back to a community CAMHS team or their GP when they are no longer medically compromised. If the Eating Disorder Service’s hours are difficult to work around, GP shared care might be an option that suits your family’s lifestyle. I appreciate that this option is not for everyone and may not be helpful at this point in time, but may be an option for the future.

On behalf of all staff of the Eating Disorder Service, thank you once again for your heartfelt thanks and appreciation. Thank you for your feedback around access times, we will ensure these are considered in the context of the review and the service capacity and resources.

Kind regards,

Dr Kavitha Vijayalakshmi

Medical Co-Director

CAMHS

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