"Patient care in Mental Health Unit"

The events occurred recently in Maroondah Hospital, IPU2.

I believed I had an MRI appointment booked for a set time in the afternoon. I tried to check with the nurses in the morning but they were unaware of it and said my nurse would chase it up.

I had a particular nurse for the morning, and I only saw them once for the day. I asked for that nurse about 7 times but each time to no avail. I asked other nurses to get my nurse to contact me regarding the MRI appointment but to no avail.

I believe other patients on the ward were also looking for this nurse to no avail. I saw my nurse and asked them to chat when I caught up with them. In my opinion, they kept away from me (I was not impatient nor abusive). I believe this was witnessed by two other patients. I asked the nurses' office to contact my nurse but to no avail.

Just under an hour before my appointment, I informed the nurses in the office that I had an appointment booked for an MRI and needed medication to calm me down before I went there. I tried several times before and after hand-over to inform them but nobody knew of the appointment. My spouse also did this via the phone.

After change-over, I believe my new nurse ignored me in front of my face and the office staff also walked away, leaving me anxious and frustrated. It took 15 minutes for my nurse to see me. I knocked on the door of the nurses' station to find out about my appointment because I was getting heavily anxious. My nurse offered me a sedative to settle me down. It took 10 minutes to get the tablet from the nurse, who, in my opinion, I could see was in no hurry at all because you can see through the glass.  

A trainee nurse tried to get me to the lift to go to Radiology. I explained that the nurses should know that I can’t be near people or in enclosed places with others unless heavily sedated, because I panic and get very scared. The trainee nurse had not been made aware of that or informed about me in any way.

I had to go back into the ward with no scan done because I was fearful of people who were just outside the door. I wanted to speak with my nurse, however, I feel they ignored me.

After the incident, a psychiatric registrar called my spouse to inform them that the MRI booking had been made when I was in PARC and that a new appointment had to be made now that I was an inpatient. If there really was no MRI appointment, it is not clear why staff attempted to transport me to Radiology in the first place.   

Regardless of the status of my appointment booking, this complaint is about my treatment during the day and the bungled transportation to Radiology. The best way to transport me would be to sedate me, then take me via wheelchair (as my legs have a mind of their own I could run away) with a covering such as a blanket over my head so I can't see people. In my opinion, nobody bothered to learn about me and my needs, either by asking me directly or via handover from the previous shift.

In summary, I believe there was a failure to exercise reasonable and appropriate care for me throughout the day, especially during my attempted transportation to Radiology. In my opinion, nurses were dismissive of me during the day and had a lack of awareness or consideration of my needs during transportation.