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Extremely long wait time

Posted By moongw47

"Extremely long wait time"

About: Perth Children's Hospital / Emergency Department

(as a parent/guardian),

My baby banged their head which immediately swelled and bruise. We woke our toddler child in the middle of the night to rush the baby to Perth Children's Hospital (PCH) for medical attention. Well, apparently there is no real rush because the doctor did not see us for another 5 hours!

At the start, we were told to expect a 3.5hr wait to be seen by a doctor. This is a long time to wait as is, but 5-6 hours... really? Adults and children were sleeping on seats in the waiting area, and those that did not sleep, like my toddler and I, felt like we went through torture to be waiting for so long.

What got me, was the lack of communication from the staff as to where you are in line because had I known the wait to be this long, I would have made sleeping arrangement for my toddler, rather than having them awake the whole night waiting with us!

This process, in my opinion, is disrespectful to the patient's time and having no system to address this is very disheartening. When I voiced this to the nurse I was told, it is what it is, with a poker face. Because I didn't know when my child would be called, I didn't dare to leave the waiting area. Yes, the waiting area. A place filled with cries from upset children and noise from snoring noise of tired adults.

Their seats are very dirty, worn and in my opinion, more tired-looking than seats of a busy bus station. I am so disappointed by my first experience in the new PCH Emergency Department. It is very family-unfriendly, based on the experience we went through.  

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Responses

Response from Michael Baker, Co-Head of Department, Emergency Department, Perth Children's Hospital | Child and Adolescent Health Service 3 years ago
Michael Baker
Co-Head of Department, Emergency Department,
Perth Children's Hospital | Child and Adolescent Health Service

Submitted on 4/11/2020 at 4:45 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 5:02 PM

Dear moongw47,

We would like to sincerely apologise for your recent experience at PCH Emergency Department. Five hours is an unacceptable amount of time to wait to be seen and is not the level of care we strive to deliver.

Unfortunately recently we experienced a night with a significant surge in presentations which was unpredictable and uncharacteristic for this time of year. This surge, in conjunction with high levels of staff sick leave and a number of highly complex patients late in the night, resulted in extended waiting times for lower triage category patients. As per the process that we follow (I.e. the Australasian Triage Score and international convention), at times of high patient volumes our focus is on safely managing patients who are the most unwell first, followed by others with less urgent presentations. Regrettably, this can result in patients with less time-critical illnesses experiencing prolonged waits for review.

I apologise for the lack of attention staff showed whilst you were in the waiting room and the apparent lack of communication and empathy shown. Even at times of extreme pressure placed on the department and its staff, we still strive to uphold the organisational values of compassion, respect, excellence and accountability.

Regarding the worn fabric on the seats, this issue was raised a number of months ago but unfortunately, due to long shipping delays, the department is still waiting for re-upholstery of the seats. This issue has again been raised and will be acted upon as soon as the materials become available.

Thank you for your feedback and for taking the time to share your experience. I can reassure our department constantly monitors wait times, reviews systems impacting on wait times and investigates ways to provide timely access to emergency care in order to avoid a similar situation occurring again.

Kind regards,

Michael Baker

Head of Department | Emergency Department

Perth Children's Hospital | Child and Adolescent Health Service

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