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Out of date COVID testing criteria displayed

Posted By Concerned2020

"Out of date COVID testing criteria displayed"

About: Albany Health Campus / Emergency Department

(as a parent/guardian),

Hello, I took my young child to Albany Health Campus recently in the evening, as they required a stitch in their nose and ketamine to do so, which another hospital wasn't able to do. 

Upon arrival, I noticed that the COVID-19 testing sign was out of date. It was displayed in the window next to the admin window inside the Emergency Department (ED). It read that unless you had been overseas or in contact with a confirmed case of COVID19, you will not be tested, regardless of symptoms. This was an extremely out of date sign and so I expressed this to the admin officer on duty as they took down contact details of my child and I.

They said they tested lots of people. To which I explained again, that the sign didn't display the new criteria saying if you had symptoms to get tested. I explained that if someone with symptoms, came into ED and no one was at the front ED to attend to them (which was the case when I first came into ED) and read that sign and had not been overseas or if I was perhaps an elderly person, someone who was passive and/or not willing to speak up or had knowledge the criteria had changed, then I believe they would have left and then possibly been a positive case who's now infected others.

Again, I wasn't taken seriously. I left it at that and felt compelled now to make a formal complaint on this. I was horrified and upset that it wasn't taken seriously.

I did receive exceptional help and care for my child, however, and I am very grateful for this. 

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Responses

Response from Juan Clark, Operations Manager, Operations, Albany Health Campus, WACHS Great Southern 3 years ago
Juan Clark
Operations Manager, Operations,
Albany Health Campus, WACHS Great Southern

Submitted on 6/05/2020 at 3:17 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 3:36 PM

Dear Concerned2020,

Thank you for sharing your experience at Albany Health Campus. I am very sorry that your concerns were not taken seriously at the time, and I appreciate that you have reached out to us through Care Opinion. I have shared your feedback with the Clinical Nurse Manager of the Emergency Department, as well as all Department Managers at Albany Health Campus. We will be undertaking an immediate review of all of our public display notices to ensure that all documentation is up to date.

In the current climate of COVID-19, the information we present to our patients and staff changes regularly, sometimes on a daily basis. We have put processes in place to manage this but unfortunately, this display seems to have been missed. We will remind staff of the importance of regularly monitoring public display notifications for currency and keeping our community as up to date and fully informed as possible.

I hope that your child is recovering well, and I will follow-up with you through Care Opinion once the review has been completed.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you should like to speak with me about your experience. You can contact me on 9892 2620 or via email Juan.Clark@health.wa.gov.au

Kind regards

Juan Clark

Operations Manager, Albany Health Camus

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Response from Juan Clark, Operations Manager, Operations, Albany Health Campus, WACHS Great Southern 3 years ago
We have made a change
Juan Clark
Operations Manager, Operations,
Albany Health Campus, WACHS Great Southern

Submitted on 13/05/2020 at 4:04 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 14/05/2020 at 8:40 AM

Dear Concerned2020,

I would like you to know that we have now completed the review of all of our public display notices and staff have been reminded of the importance of ensuring all documentation is checked regularly and kept up to date.

Thank you again for bringing this matter to our attention.

Kind regards,

Juan Clark

Operations Manager, Albany Health Campus

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by Concerned2020 (a parent/guardian)

Thank you so much for getting back in touch. This is great to hear and should help our community stay safe and well when it comes to COVID testing.

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