"Public hospital emergency department"

I was brought to St George Hospital in an ambulance after collapsing face-first on my tiled kitchen floor on a weeknight. My parents called an ambulance as I was out cold and had never fainted or collapsed previously and thought it best I got checked out. I am fully covered by HCF at the highest cover tier and the ED team took my HCF details. 

Upon arriving at emergency in the evening I had a deep cut on my chin and above my brow as my skin had split on impact and required stitches. I also couldn't chew as there was tremendous tension and pain in my jaw. In my opinion, the Ambulance crew were lovely, checking my vitals etc at home and en route to the hospital. 

I felt the ED Dr was very odd, I believe they kept trying to convince me I had a heart attack. I am a mature adult. I had a chest/heart x-ray and my head and jaw CT. I understand that everything showed that I was fine. The nurse gave me a hydration drip and a blood test. Everything was fine with my blood tests. But the Dr kept insisting I may have had a heart attack.

They said I needed to stay to see a cardiologist but there wasn't one available right now and that I required stitches. I said (and requested many times) I wish to be transferred to St George private. I believe the doctor lied about the time frame re the stitches and only did them 6 hours later when I said I'm leaving to get my GP to do it, and there is no point in me staying here if the cardiologist wasn't available right now to do the ultrasound. They then kept going on about it may have been a heart attack. That panicked my parent who was with me, and insisted I waited for the cardiologist.  

Several hours later, mid-morning the next day, a visiting cardiologist doing the rounds told me I would have to stay two more days as there was no one to do the ultrasound. This is something I believe I should have been told 12 hours earlier. I said I would like to move to the Private hospital. The cardiologist said there wouldn't be anyone there on the weekend either. So I requested to be discharged as I said I will book my own Cardiologist as a private paying patient, at my preferred hospital. I felt they then tried to upsell a cardiologist to me. I politely refused as I wanted to choose my own. I insisted to be discharged. 

Then, not long after, all of a sudden, a nurse appears & checks my temperature claiming it was very high (despite being normal for the other 10 checks) and that I would need to get tested for covid immediately. And they moved me into another section. The only upside to this was that at least where they moved me the bathrooms were cleaned. The ED bathrooms had no soap or even shower gel, there were faeces all over the toilet, and the was blood on the sink. I felt this was disgusting, especially since we are in a pandemic. 

Once moved, they told me I might need to wait 12 hours for the result. At this point, I got very annoyed as I believe I was being held against my will. I firmly said I will be leaving. Funnily enough, when my temperature was tested again it was normal. I left the hospital midday that day. 

Two days later, I received a call from a St George affiliated cardiologist who tried to book me an appointment as a private patient. I was very annoyed my number was given without my permission, especially as I explicitly stated I wanted to choose my own specialists. Even after turning down the cardiologist, about a week later I received a text from the cardiologist confirming an appointment that I never made! It was absurd. 

I am fortunate to be able to choose my treating doctors, and the excellent cardiologist from another private hospital ran several diagnostics and said there is absolutely no indication of a heart attack and everything is fine.

What wasn't fine however was my stitches, they got infected. My GP gave me a course of antibiotics as well as the antibiotic ointment Bactrim to get rid of the infection I caught in that, I believe, filthy ED.

I would also like to add that I believe I could have gone to St George private as I understand they have over 240 beds and 24/7 cardio diagnostic services 7 days a week. So, I believe I was being lied to be kept in the public part of the hospital. 

St George hospital was definitely the worst experience in healthcare I have received my entire life. In my opinion, it was terrible and I believe reflects poorly on NSW Health.