"Lack of Patient Care"

I attended Karratha Health Campus ED with my young child recently in the early morning. My child arrived home from daycare the previous evening with an insect bite on their face. The infected area had spread to their eye this morning and the area around their eye/ eye lid was swollen.

We were triaged by the nurses and I felt they were fa and very friendly.

The doctor was sitting behind the desks in ED and, I believe, shouted over to me asking what happened. They seemed to roll their eyes when I said an insect bite. The doctor remained on their chair the entire time. They did not speak to my child. Some minutes passed and the doctor walked over and handed me a script. I told one of the nurses I was not happy with this service as the doctor did not examine my child's eye, feel if the swollen area was hot. I believe they completely fobbed us off. The doctor walked back over towards me and I told them I wanted a second opinion as I felt they were so rude and more to the point did not examine my child.

The doctor's answer was, are you aware of the hospital's rostering system.

When I said no they said to me there will be a wait for another doctor. So again, I feel they was trying to palm me off. We only had to wait a couple hours and the morning Dr had commenced their shift and examined my child.

What I feel is most concerning is a few weeks ago I attended ED with my child with an insect bite. Same side of the face and same eye (right side). We had a totally different experience on this occasion. I felt the doctors were friendly and completed all their checks and were treating my child for periorbital/ oribtal cellulitis, they gave my child IV antibiotics, blood tests and my child was admitted for 24 hours. Blood tests were performed again the following morning prior to being discharged. The doctors advised there is a nerve at the back of the eye and they wanted to ensure all tests were completed as it is unknown what type of insect bit my child and also with their age it was hard to tell if their eye was sore or their vision was impaired. It was also mentioned living in Regional WA it is best to get all the required checks done and being admitted for one night rather than the infection spreading and potentially leaving damage to the eye.

We were sent home with antibiotics for 10 days.

My question to Karratha Health Campus is, why has my child received 2 very different types of service/treatment for the exact same presenting complaint?

I could clearly see, in my opinion, we were an inconvenience to the doctor. When I also advised them to check my child's file as we had been in this hospital a little while ago with the exact issue they seemed to roll their eyes and smirk when I said blood tests were done twice and we were admitted.

I believe it is an absolute disgrace and patient neglect.

I would also like to add to my story that it is most concerning also that the doctor did not examine my child or conduct a blood test even with the notification of a risk of a fatal mosquito disease in the Pilbara.