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Care Opinion

Rude and abrupt nurse

Posted By januarykz47

"Rude and abrupt nurse"

About: Kununoppin Hospital (Aged Care)

(as a service user),

I rang Kununoppin Hospital to enquire about the availability of a Ventolin inhaler for my parent. Five times I had to ring to be successfully answered on the 5th ring (as previous 4 phone calls the phone was picked up and slammed back down) to be answered by, in my opinion, a rude and curt “Hello”. The nurse, I felt, was very rude and short when I asked if this was Kununoppin Hospital. The nurse rudely said, well yes, of course it is. 

When I asked them if I would be able to get a Ventolin inhaler, they said, well, I dunno if we have any coz we are in short supply due to covid (rather rudely), then told me to ring back in 5 minutes while they went and checked.

Was told by another staff member that the other nurse just stepped out for 5 minutes and that they checked and there was none there. I’m normally a big advocate for our small hospital but if staff are going to be rude as hell to a query, what are they gonna be like if it’s a life and death situation? I found this nurse to be very, very, very rude, hence why this complaint is being made.

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Responses

Response from Nancy Bineham, A/Operations Manager Eastern Wheatbelt, WA Country Health Service - Wheatbelt 3 years ago
Nancy Bineham
A/Operations Manager Eastern Wheatbelt,
WA Country Health Service - Wheatbelt

Submitted on 29/01/2021 at 11:09 AM
Published on Care Opinion at 11:23 AM

picture of Nancy Bineham

Dear januarykz47,

I’m very sorry to read about your experience trying to contact Kununoppin Health Service and access Ventolin for your parent. We train and expect our staff to answer the phone promptly and politely, to listen carefully to the questions or concerns of the caller, and to do what they can to assist in line with our WACHS values of compassion and respect. I sincerely apologise that this did not occur on this occasion.

The staff member concerned has been reminded of the need to always answer politely and to be as helpful as possible and this will be reiterated at the next staff meeting.

The telephone system at Kununoppin is faulty and currently being investigated by our Information and Communications Technology (ICT) team. There is an intermittent phone system problem caused by errors on the Wide Area Network (WAN) which results in the dropouts you experienced.

Our ICT team are working with the WAN Provider, NEC, and hope to have a resolution in the next two weeks.

I am aware Ms Joanne Randall Kununoppin Health Service Manager has spoken to you about your concerns and I hope this has been helpful. You can also speak to me, by calling (08) 908 13222.

If at any time you are concerned about your parent’s health and wellbeing please do not hesitate to bring them to the Kununoppin hospital Emergency Department for an assessment.

Thank you for sharing your story.

Kind regards,

Nancy Bineham

Acting Operations Manager Eastern Wheatbelt

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