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Staff care and numbers during my hospital stay

Posted By Squire

"Staff care and numbers during my hospital stay"

About: Bunbury Hospital / Emergency Department Bunbury Hospital / Surgical Ward

(as the patient),

I was transferred to BRH from another hospital for treatment for cellulitis/olecranon bursitis.

Transfer into ED was excellent and I was kept in the Short Stay Unit (SSU) overnight as no ward beds were available. The team in the SSU were excellent even though I feel it's not a great environment for an overnight stay. They made me as comfortable as possible.

I was transferred to the surgical ward the next day.

The ward was very busy and although the care I received from each individual was excellent, in my opinion, it is clear that the ward is a bit under-resourced in terms of nursing staff.

There were several times during the 4 days I was in the ward when I believe patients' IV machines were left with alarms on for up to 45 mins and patient calls were unattended for up to 30 mins.

I would like to acknowledge the PCA team who were great and always had time for a bit of a laugh and some banter, as well as a couple of outstanding RNs, Ange who was on nights for 3 of my 4 nights in the ward and Renee who was on mornings for the same. Ange, in particular, was a reassuring and in-control presence, even when faced with a particularly high needs patient in the bed next to me.

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Response from Jeremy Higgins, Operations Manager - Inland, WACHS South West 3 years ago
Jeremy Higgins
Operations Manager - Inland,
WACHS South West

Submitted on 11/11/2020 at 11:00 AM
Published on Care Opinion on 12/11/2020 at 1:32 PM

picture of Jeremy Higgins

Dear Squire,

Thank you for your feedback on your journey and experience as a patient in WA Country Health Service South West and admission to Bunbury Hospital. I sincerely hope you are recovering following your discharge from hospital. Your feedback on the care you received in the Emergency Department and on the Surgical Ward by the PCAs and RNs is lovely feedback and I will ensure this is shared with the staff and teams to acknowledge the professional, personable and compassionate care they provide day in/day out.

I would also like to acknowledge your feedback about response time to call balls and IV alarms. Firstly the Surgical ward is looking to ensure there were no clinical incidents as a result of delays to answer alarm bells. As you allude to, I don't think delays are a result of individual diligence, but related to some of the pressure the staff have been under with high activity on our busy surgical ward and some recent staffing challenges.

A number of things are occurring to support and address, including that we are exploring putting in place more equipment on the surgical ward to save staff having to leave the bedside as much to look for equipment. The surgical ward is also recruiting to key positions at the moment to support the staffing.

Your feedback is also being shared and discussed at the surgical ward team meeting.

Thank you again for your feedback. It does help us to improve our service and provide feedback to our staff.

Yours sincerely,

Jeremy Higgins

A/Operations Manager, Bunbury Hospital

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