This is Care Opinion [siteRegion]. Did you want Care Opinion [usersRegionBasedOnIP]?
Care Opinion

Weeks of agony

Posted By vegahb46

"Weeks of agony"

About: Geraldton Hospital / Emergency Department

(as a relative),

My spouse presented themselves at the Emergency Dept with severe pain in their lower, mid-back. My spouse had previous history and nearly required surgery prior to this episode. Suggested a scan perhaps but ruled it out as my spouse did not have pain down legs. 

The Doctor said yep it's a pain - gave my spouse a script for pain killers and on our way. 

We return a few days later and saw another doctor - it was a weekend and the doctor suggested an MRI be done, however, we would have to follow up with a different hospital as they couldn't do it on that day - and would not, in my opinion, even do a CT or an Xray.

Sent off with more pain killers. The pain was shooting down both legs into feet. By this time, my spouse couldn't even lay flat or stand or sit for more than a few minutes.  We believe at this stage my spouse should have been admitted, or at the very least given morphine or similar, as the pain killers they were taking were making my spouse feel nauseous. It was also probably pain related.  

The next day we contacted the other hospital the Doctor at Geraldton said we should go to, who said they could not fit my spouse in until the following week for an MRI, but suggested we contact our local GP to get a CT scan which could be done the following day.  This we did!  We followed up immediately and were then given dates for CT Cortisone injections ( X 2 - both sides). We are still following up on the MRI which my spouse finally had and they may now need surgery.

Our point is, in our opinion, if my spouse had been admitted the first or even second time on viewing at Emergency Dept, they could have been given better pain killers and better quality of care with an MRI or CT or even a basic X-ray, instead of weeks of absolute agony, sleeping (well napping) on a couch half raised. 

More about:
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Tamara Sweeney, A/Operations Manager Geraldton Hospital, WA Country Health Service 3 years ago
Tamara Sweeney
A/Operations Manager Geraldton Hospital,
WA Country Health Service

Submitted on 23/10/2020 at 3:25 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 26/10/2020 at 10:10 AM

picture of Tamara Sweeney

Dear vegahb46,

I am sorry to hear about your experience at the Geraldton Hospital Emergency Department and that you felt your spouse was discharged before their health issues were fully addressed, and they continued to experience pain. This is not reflective of the compassionate and person-centred care we strive to offer. The WA Country Health Service Midwest aims to provide accessible, safe, high-quality care for everyone and no one should feel that they can’t attend the department and receive appropriate medical care and advice. Your story will be discussed with the Geraldton Hospital management team and staff in the Emergency Department to ensure other families will not experience the same issues you have.

I am concerned about your complaint and would like to be able to gain a more in-depth understanding of your experience. However, to do this I need more information from you and hope that you will be able to contact me so this can occur. If you would like to, you can contact me on 9956 2369 or email Tamara.Sweeney@health.wa.gov.au. I would welcome your call and you can continue to maintain your anonymity if you wish.

Geraldton Hospital has a process for patients and their carers to call for urgent assistance when they are concerned about a patient’s health and feel that their healthcare team has not fully recognised their changing health condition called CARE Call. When a CARE Call is made, a senior staff member listens to the concerns of the person making the CARE Call and makes a full assessment of the patient’s situation. The senior staff member then liaises with the treating medical team and other health care providers as required. The phone number for this is 1800 316 729 and all calls are very welcome. If you would like further information about CARE Call please visit the WACHS Website at http://www.wacountry.health.wa.gov.au/index.php?id=970

It is very important that we receive feedback from patients and their carers when our services do not meet their needs as it enables us to identify what went wrong and put in place strategies to prevent it happening again.

Thank you for writing to Care Opinion and I do hope to hear from you.

Kind regards,

Tamara Sweeney

A/Operations Manager Geraldton Hospital

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k