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Care Opinion

Waiting times for a test

Posted By melontx49

"Waiting times for a test"

About: Kalgoorlie Health Campus / Emergency Department

(as a service user),

I needed to have a COVID test recently as I have a few symptoms and my employer required me to get tested before returning to work.

I arrived at the hospital before midday. I eventually got tested by mid-afternoon. I was the only person in the COVID waiting room. Waiting over three hours to get tested is not acceptable in my opinion.

I believe if there was a serious COVID problem in WA they would certainly need to sharpen up and be able to test more than one patient every three and a half hours. In my opinion, if COVID tests can be done in a drive through by a nurse at other hospitals, I don’t understand why Kalgoorlie Hospital are making people wait in the standard triage queue. In my opinion, surely they should have a fast-track system in place for COVID testing since it can be done by a nurse and I believe literally takes less than one minute to do.

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Responses

Response from Peter Tredinnick, Executive Director, Regional Office, WACHS Goldfields 3 years ago
Peter Tredinnick
Executive Director, Regional Office,
WACHS Goldfields

Executive Director WACHS Goldfields

Submitted on 19/08/2020 at 3:28 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 4:21 PM

picture of Peter Tredinnick

Dear melontx49,

Thank you for sharing your experience on Care Opinion.

I can understand your frustration in having to wait for a COVID-19 test in the Kalgoorlie Emergency Department (ED). You are right in stating that the reason for the delays is that we are applying the national triage system to all presentations, which means that people who come to the ED with potentially life-threatening or very severe symptoms are prioritised for care.

There is a point in demand where we may allocate staff solely for COVID testing and fast track patients. However, at the moment, we are in the fortunate position where demand is not high and COVID testing is conducted as part of our ordinary business. This does, however, mean that there will likely be a waiting period.

An alternative to having a COVID-19 test at the hospital is the Goldfields Respiratory Clinic, which is a private COVID testing facility in Kalgoorlie operated by Plaza Medical Centre.

The clinic offers appointment times, which will lessen the waiting time. The service is free for Medicare Card Holders and can be accessed by calling 0407 782 132 or by booking online at www.goldfieldsrespiratory.com.au

Thank you again for taking the time to provide your feedback. I hope all is well with you.

Regards

Peter Tredinnick

A/Regional Director

WACHS Goldfields

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