"Hoisting equipment"

I have to advise and complain about our hoisting experience recently at the above on Level 1 Day Treatment Unit, Clinic E from around mid-morning.

We had finished the botox injections very successfully with my child. They have a powerchair and needs to be hoisted into their wheelchair. I had been able to manually handle them onto the clinic table for the injections, but we needed a hoist to get them back into their chair.

Firstly, the ceiling hoist was not useable. I believe the nurse could not get it to work. Please note, this is not the first time we have experienced the ceiling hoists to not be in working condition, it has happened probably around 3-4 times since accessing this new hospital over the last few years.

Secondly, the area does not have a dedicated manual hoist. We had to wait precariously on the clinic table for around 20 minutes to find a manual hoist from somewhere else in the hospital.

Thirdly, I rang the Cerebral Palsy Coordinators CP Mobility Service. The phone rang out. I then rang the main PCH phone and they put me through, but we went through to a message bank as I believe no-one was available. I left a message for someone to ring me back as we needed to sort out the hoist situation. So far, at the time of writing this story, I still hadn’t heard back from that left message.

When a manual hoist finally did arrive it stopped mid hoisting causing significant distress to my child, because for a time we couldn’t get them in or out. My child has a significant movement disorder, hence the need for botox, and they can plank in a sling. I also became very distressed, because they could neither get into their chair or out of the chair and it just turned into what I felt was a horrible ordeal. My child was frightened and scared.

I hoist my child all the time, several times a day, and this should not have happened. We both left the clinic and hospital in tears, feeling unsafe and extremely distraught.

I believe that what’s needed is:

- A reliable, dedicated manual hoist which is continuously plugged in and ready for use in what I feel is this busy clinic area of the hospital.

- For all nursing staff to have a much better knowledge of the hoists available, assembling ceiling hoists and hoist training. Parents like myself are there to do the actual hoisting, but if the equipment is faulty it presents a situation where we have to lift and heft the child out of a dangerous situation.  Also, if a known wheelchair user is attending the clinic, then I believe the hoist needs to be assembled and in a ready-to-go state for use in the clinic.  

Please note that this is not a complaint about an actual person, however, it is a complaint about the systemic problem I believe this hospital has with disability and appropriate availability of equipment like hoists. I feel your staff are exceptional.

I have used my precious personal down time to write this complaint, because this whole experience brought us down emotionally, (reduced us both to tears) and I feel I have to say something.