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Emergency Dept COVID contradiction

Posted By pelicanqy95

"Emergency Dept COVID contradiction"

About: Geraldton Hospital / Emergency Department

(as the patient),

I was admitted to ED with a respiratory condition early June late in the afternoon. I was put into a Covid Bay and given a rapid Covid test (as I am a staff member), along with other medical procedures to see what was wrong.

I noticed that the zips were not zipped up at any stage of my ED stay, although everyone gowned up prior to coming in. Still waiting for Covid results to come back resulted in a long overnight stay in ED.

During this time I needed to use the toilet and one nurse gave me a commode to go in my bay as I couldn't leave the room for COVID concerns. The curtain I found did not even give me privacy as it was too small, also in the middle of the night, as I understand it, other patients were walking out of COVID rooms to go to the toilet all night, and another nurse let me unplug myself and use a toilet with no issues at all.

I went to go to the toilet in the morning, and I came back to my room and was told off by another doctor/nurse for leaving and told I can get a fine if I do so again. This made a stressful situation for me as I felt that I was being told off as, in my opinion, the staff member was a little stern. 

Also, if I had not have asked for something to drink or eat that night, I believe I would not have had anything until lunch the following day when food was finally bought in.

My Covid test was lost so had to have another test. Results were negative and I was finally able to go to the ward after being in my Covid bay a total of about 30 hours before being admitted.

My stay on the ward was great.

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Responses

Response from Derek Fraser, Operations Manager Geraldton Hospital, WA Country Health Service 2 years ago
Derek Fraser
Operations Manager Geraldton Hospital,
WA Country Health Service

Submitted on 27/07/2021 at 11:41 AM
Published on Care Opinion at 11:46 AM

picture of Derek Fraser

Dear pelicanqy95,

Thank you for taking the time to share your recent experience of care while you were in Geraldton Hospital Emergency Department (ED). I would like to offer you my sincere apologies for any additional stress we may have caused you at a time when you were feeling vulnerable and unwell.

I would like to reassure you that the safety and wellbeing of all our patients and staff is our number one priority and we have clear policies and procedures that outline how we care for people who present with respiratory illness. I am concerned about your experience and will be sharing this with the Emergency Department team at our upcoming team meeting to ensure that all staff in our ED are aware and informed about how we ensure patient privacy and dignity whilst balancing the clinical needs and infection prevention measures. Geraldton Hospital is currently undertaking a series of training drills with staff on respiratory presentations so that we can continue to practice and improve the care that we provide.

I am sorry that you were not offered a meal and felt ‘told off’ by a member of staff. This does not reflect the compassionate care that we expect from all of our staff, and I will be reminding our staff that their behaviours and actions can and do have a profound impact on our patients and their families and carers.

I would appreciate the opportunity to learn more about your experience and would welcome a call or an email from you. If you are happy to reach out, my name is Derek Fraser and I am the Operations Manager at Geraldton Hospital. My direct phone number is 9956 2369 or you can email me at: derek.fraser@health.wa.gov.au.

Thank you again for sharing your experience with us as it will enable us to improve the care we provide.

I hope you are feeling better and that I hear from you soon.

Yours sincerely

Derek Fraser

Operations Manager Geraldton Hospital

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