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Poor treatment in ED

Posted By aurigaxn76

"Poor treatment in ED"

About: Albany Health Campus / Emergency Department

(as a relative),

My spouse had a suspected ruptured disc and it was crushing nerves. Our GP advised that because I couldn't get them into a car that we should get an ambulance, which we did. The Ambulance officers were great and gave my spouse  Fentanyl so they could transport them to hospital. My spouse has an extensive history of back issues including a spinal fusion, discectomy and a hip replacement. They were very bent, couldn't walk or sit. 

Upon arrival at hospital no physical examination was done at all. When I got there the Dr was speaking to my spouse and I joined them. The Dr advised that in their opinion they had just pulled a muscle. The Dr said they wouldn't be doing a scan as they don't just radiate flesh for no reason and that from an ED perspective unless my spouse was dragging a leg or had lost bowel motion, it was not considered serious. The hospital did not seem to listen to my spouse's history at all and I feel showed no empathy for the pain they were in. In my opinion, this was a totally unacceptable conclusion for the Dr to come to. The Dr also queried why my spouse had arrived in an ambulance. 

The next day we saw our GP who organised an urgent CT Scan and put my spouse on very strong pain killers which did absolutely nothing for the pain. 

The scan revealed a disc had partially collapsed and was crushing on nerves. In my opinion, if a scan had have been done, this would have been revealed at the hospital. A week after the hospital visit my spouse had an epidural steroid injection into their spine which has finally relieved some pain. 

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Responses

Response from Dr Barbara King, Director of Medical Services, Albany Health Campus 3 years ago
Dr Barbara King
Director of Medical Services,
Albany Health Campus

Submitted on 14/12/2020 at 11:02 AM
Published on Care Opinion at 11:02 AM

Dear aurigaxn76,

Thank you for sharing your experience in the Emergency Department at Albany Health Campus.

I am very sorry to hear about your spouse’s experience of having a partially ruptured disc. This must have been a very painful and frightening experience and I genuinely apologise if we in any way caused additional stress at what was already a stressful time.

I would also like to reflect on the comments made to you and your spouse by the ED Doctor. We expect our staff to communicate with patients and families in a way that the reasoning behind the treatment and care recommendations are understood and people are able to participate fully in decisions relating to care. I’m very sorry that this wasn’t your experience.

People in our care should always feel safe and empowered to be able to initiate processes for escalation if there is any concern about the quality of their care. Albany 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

I would also like to speak with you to learn more about what happened. If you are happy to, please free to contact me at a time of your convenience on 9892 2647 or via email at Barbara.King@health.wa.gov.au

I do hope that your spouse is continuing to recover well and that we hear from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Barbara King

Director of Medical Services

Albany Health Campus

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