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Care Opinion

Visiting family members who are in palliative

Posted By velazp54

"Visiting family members who are in palliative"

About: St George Hospital

(as a relative),

I am seeking clear information in relation to visiting my relative who is unwell. What is your current policy for visiting palliative patients during the current COVID19 lockdown?

Your published documents state:

- visitors must wear a mask

- maintain physical distancing

- QR check-in

- sanitise hands/cough etiquette

- don't visit if you have symptoms

If one meets the above criteria, is there any reason why visits cannot occur? And why would staff within the Hospital move next of kin or children along (i.e. restricting time for visits) at this terrible time for them, cutting time short I feel, even more so when time is running out? 

It feels like such a cruel situation to keep family away from loved ones at this dreadful time. Please provide clear advice that myself & my family can use with authority to visit my relative. It does not help my family going through this situation to have, in my opinion, conflicting messages and uncertainty as to whether a visit may be allowed or not. 

Thank you for your empathy & response.

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Responses

Response from Paul Darcy, General Manager, St George Hospital 2 years ago
Paul Darcy
General Manager,
St George Hospital

General Manager of St George Hospital

Submitted on 5/07/2021 at 11:51 AM
Published on Care Opinion at 11:51 AM

Dear velazp54,

Thank you for taking the time to write during what must be a very distressing time for you and your family.

I can assure you that in the current environment when it comes to visitors and their loved ones we assess every situation on a case by case basis, especially for our palliative patients and their relatives.

I would ask you to please contact the Nurse Unit Manager or our Patient Experience Manager on 9113 2687 as a matter of urgency to assist you and your family.

Kind Regards,

Paul

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Update posted by velazp54 (a relative)

Dear Paul,


Thank you for your response.


Unfortunately my relative passed away overnight. On Friday they were assessed as suitable to be transferred to another facility within the area and they were moved late on Saturday afternoon. That meant a whole five days without them seeing anyone from their family.


When they arrived at the new facility a family member was told that only three hospitals in Sydney have the "no visitor" policy for palliative patients - St George Hospital. Liverpool Hospital and Royal North Shore Hospital.


Whilst we understand the requirement to keep everyone safe, the impact on us has been traumatic and unforgettable.


I can assure you that last week, the last week of my relative's life was, I believe, not only lonely and emotionally painful for them but for also for their family. That last week there could have been so many things said by relatives but they could not say them. They could not hold their hand and say goodbyes. We do not even have the comfort of knowing that their spouse could convey all of our love to them. Not allowing their spouse in to see them is absolutely unforgivable and so cruel. We have to live with that last week with thoughts of our relative alone and dying.


From your response, it sounds like your policies and procedures are not clearly available. A case by case is of course most flexible but in my opinion, it does tend to create risk of miscommunication and confusion with your customer-facing staff. Although it is too late for us now to make use of the phone number you kindly provided in your email, perhaps other members of the public can use it so as not to be in the situation whereby we are now - living without saying goodbye.


Yours sincerely,


velazp54

Response from Paul Darcy, General Manager, St George Hospital 2 years ago
Paul Darcy
General Manager,
St George Hospital

General Manager of St George Hospital

Submitted on 6/07/2021 at 5:04 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 7/07/2021 at 8:55 AM

Dear velazp54,

I was very upset to read that your loved one has passed away, please extend my sincere condolences to you and your family at this time.

For me to further understand your experience in greater detail, I would be grateful if you could make contact with our Patient Experience Manager so that we can look at ways to improve this process for others in similar situations.

At St George Hospital we do have visitor guidelines in place and staff are advised to assess every situation on a case by case basis. Unfortunately in dealing with COVID 19, we have had to modify these guidelines regularly in order to keep patients and staff safe.

I am remorseful to hear about the experience that you and your family have had with new visiting guidelines in place and I apologise that you did not have a chance to say goodbye to your loved one.

Again, I would really appreciate you contacting the Patient Experience Manager on 9113 2687 or email SESLHD-STG-ConsumerFeedback@health.nsw.gov.au in order for us to understand your experience further.

Kind Regards,

Paul

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