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"Hospital treatment towards my parent"

About: Armadale Hospital / Canning Medical Ward Armadale Hospital / Emergency Department

(as a relative),

My parent recently received emergency treatment before being hospitalised. They had good caring nurses and doctors in the emergency room. But then my parent was hospitalised and the first day was ok as they had a wonderful nurse. The doctors though, in my opinion, had all different medical reviews suggestions and treatment. I felt they were unsure and indecisive in my parent's illness and treatment options. 

A few days later my parent just wanted to go home. They had had so many blood tests and antibiotics I believe they made them more sick. One doctor had the nerve to ask my parent why they were still there. I felt one doctor yelled at my parent that they need to see their own doctor.

I believe another doctor said my parent has to get another blood test towards the end of the week for their liver. Why the heck they couldn’t do that in the hospital is beyond me as I believe they were taking tests up to three times daily.

I feel a word of advice to all staff is, don’t talk about patients behind their backs in, what I believe to be a rude condescending manner. They are human beings who once held professional jobs. We could hear the medical staff I believe, winging and complaining about all patients over the three days including my own parent I believe. I find that behaviour disgusting. In my opinion, you don’t complain and malign people you are treating or caring.

The catering meals were satisfactory, however, don’t you get something to eat or drink on the first day of emergency? My parent had their own water bottle but didn’t get food or drink offered to them for, I believe, several hours.

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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 18/03/2020 at 1:39 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 2:42 PM


picture of Diane Barr

Dear Hospital stay,

Thank you for getting in touch with us. I am very sorry to hear of your experience and that of your parent. This type of behaviour does not align with our hospital values and the expected standard of care delivery to our patients and their families. In particular, I am very concerned to hear you feel that your parent was “yelled” at. This is not acceptable. If you would be willing to meet with us, more detail would assist us in responding directly to individuals and the team.

In response to your feedback on multiple tests, this is fully acknowledged. By way of background and not as an excuse, it is not uncommon for patients to experience this when they have complex conditions. We are listening to our patients and working with our teams to try and minimise tests and duplication of tests. As we learn more from patient journeys we are developing standardised testing for certain procedures. We feel we have room to improve in this area. Currently, we have a quality improvement program called “choosing wisely”. This program targets areas that we can reduce frequent testing.

I am unable to comment if any of the tests your parent received could have been avoided as I do not have the detail. I do however fully apologise for your experience in relation to the communication you describe.

Our intent is to include our families and patients as partners in conversation and decisions about care, and expect that staff follow our hospital values in their conversations. The experience you describe does not meet our intended standard.

We will share your experience with the Canning Medical Ward team to ensure your feedback is used valuably.

In closing thank you for your positive comments on your emergency department experience, this will be provided to the team as it will have a positive impact on morale. Your feedback on the refreshments has been provided to the ED nursing unit manager for future consideration.

We really appreciate your feedback. Should you wish to discuss this in further detail, we would welcome the opportunity to meet with you and your parent. This can be arranged via our Consumer Liaison Officer who can be contacted on (08) 9391 1153 or AKG_ConsumerLiaison@health.wa.gov.au.

Thank you again for writing and allowing us the opportunity to review our current practices and make changes to improve the overall patient, family and carer experience.

Kind regards

Di Barr

Executive Director

Armadale Kalamunda Group

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