This is Care Opinion [siteRegion]. Did you want Care Opinion [usersRegionBasedOnIP]?

"Needing surgery in hospital"

About: Bunbury Hospital / Surgical Ward

(as the patient),

I completely tore my achilles a few weeks ago, thought I wouldn't bother with emergency, because every other time I have gone there they have sent me to a dr to get a referral for an MRI, so thought we would skip a step.

Went to the DRs, it was all the symptoms for a ruptured achilles, she wrote urgent on the referral for an MRI. When I called, they said they could get me in, in 3 weeks, is that okay? I said no, it's my achilles, I can't walk. Said they couldn't do anything about it. Ended up going to another town to get the MRI the next day. Found out the day after I had a complete rupture of the achilles tendon. Dr again wrote urgent on the referral and sent it to a specialist, specialist was on leave. So they sent the referral to the outpatient clinic recently one morning. I called to make an appointment, said they couldn't get me in until after the weekend. My parent managed to get me in the next day before the weekend. Once there I was told I would need surgery, to fast from 12am that night and come in the next day for surgery. Once there, sat for an hour, admissions then said there were no beds, waited another hr, for them to come back and say it won't happen that day, go home, they'll try get me in the next day. Didn't hear from them until the following night after that, telling me to fast again from 12am, would call me the next morning to update me of when to come in. Didn't hear anything until mid-afternoon, saying I wouldn't be going in for surgery. They then said, we'll get you to fast from 6am the next day and come into the day procedure unit at mid-morning.

Sat in admissions for 3 hours before they got me in a bed, had completed all the forms, they came to me later in the afternoon to tell me the surgery wouldn't be happening and to go home. Hopefully, we can get it done on Friday or over the weekend. I was not given any other details. I have been told it is vital to get an achilles surgery done within the first 48hrs ideally, no later than 10 days as it causes complications.

I feel like I'm not considered important enough, I'm a physical education and outdoor education teacher which requires a lot of practical work, this is my life. If my achilles causes me issues I can not do my job. I have already had so many disruptions to work in the past two weeks due to appointments and been in there ready for surgery and not been able to get surgery.

Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Jeremy Higgins, Operations Manager - Inland, WACHS South West 2 years ago
We have made a change
Jeremy Higgins
Operations Manager - Inland,
WACHS South West
Submitted on 8/06/2021 at 6:17 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 9/06/2021 at 8:58 AM


picture of Jeremy Higgins

Dear casingjp75,

I am sincerely sorry to read about your care experience at Bunbury Hospital. An Achilles Tendon injury can be very debilitating and I can see that your care pathway has been fragmented and that there have been delays in you having surgery. Whilst at times surgery is rescheduled due to other life threatening emergencies, it is completely understandable that you are worried about the outcome for you and the impact for your returning to work, if your surgery is further delayed.

Your care is very important to us and I would like to get more details so we can quickly look into your situation. If you are comfortable if you can please contact the Bunbury Hospital Customer Liaison Officer on 9722 1521 so we can look into your situation and ensure you are able to get the care you need.

I also want to let you that know changes are being made including a major redevelopment of the Bunbury Hospital, including additional Operating Theatre Capacity. Whilst the redevelopment will take some time, in the meantime we are also looking at our processes and staffing to ensure we are able to meet the demands the health service is experiencing.

Jeremy Higgins

Operations Manager

Bunbury Hospital

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k