"Poor service in triage"

I am so upset at how you treated my relative after I encouraged them to attend your Emergency Department recently late in the night.

My relative was in so much pain with their tooth and felt a lump all around it. I live in Victoria and was worried about them so told them to go to the local ED as I believe it sounded like an infection and will need antibiotics.

My relative who is in their 70's got a taxi to your ED dept and I believe stood at the front desk in agony for 10 mins waiting for 2 staff members to stop talking and gossiping before they took my relative's details and I believe were not friendly at all.

The triage nurse not long called my relative in. My relative was in pain and asked to get help with pain relief and the triage nurse, I believe, then proceeded to have a go at them and say, we are not a dentist, we don't have a dentist here, the triage nurse also stated my relative should have gone to a GP. In my opinion, if the triage nurse had the decency to ask, my relative did not have the pain during the day and once it got worse every GP was shut. In my opinion, a lecture is the last thing you want when in pain.

The nurse was not only rude but made my relative feel so bad - like they were wasting their time. My relative was in so much pain, they don't have family to help them so I believe was also anxious and to be treated like that, in my opinion, is not only unprofessional but downright appalling.

No one should be spoken to and belittled like that and I hope someone can take the time to give those staff members some lessons in customer service and empathy. 

After 5 hours of waiting,  my relative was told it would be at least another 4 hrs wait so they called a taxi and went home. 

Very disappointing service or lack thereof.