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Discharge Lounge care

Posted By squatrc35

"Discharge Lounge care"

About: Geraldton Hospital

(as a relative),

My elderly parent was sat in the discharge lounge awaiting completion to discharge medical notes and scripts etc.

This period of time extended to over the 4-hour mark when respiratory inhaler medication was due. As I understand it, no nursing follow-up during this timeframe ensured my parent had attended this while they sat waiting for the completed paperwork.

Given this admission related to their exacerbation of COPD condition, I feel patients should be monitored more closely while awaiting discharge and medications should not be missed when left the general ward bed area. My parent subsequently didn’t have this medication for 6 hours.

Outpatient referrals have been acted upon very quickly, for that my family is very happy.

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Responses

Response from Derek Fraser, Operations Manager Geraldton Hospital, WA Country Health Service 2 years ago
We have made a change
Derek Fraser
Operations Manager Geraldton Hospital,
WA Country Health Service

Submitted on 25/10/2021 at 9:43 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 26/10/2021 at 9:50 AM

picture of Derek Fraser

Dear squatrc35,

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your parent’s experience with us. I am very sorry your parent waited in the discharge lounge for four hours and did not have a nurse follow-up to check their well-being. May I ask, how is your parent? I do hope they are feeling better after their admission and their exacerbation of COPD has resolved.

Based on your feedback, the Coordinator of Nursing and Midwifery has met with the nursing team who work in the Discharge Lounge and reviewed how care is being provided for people. From this the nurse coordinator has initiated changes to ensure the care in the lounge area is a continuation of any care required from each patients stay on the ward, until discharge. The changes are about ensuring each patient will have a better experience. This includes better orientation to the discharge lounge, so each patient will know where everything is – toilets and call bell for example. Improvement to the handover the ward nurse provides to the discharge lounge nurse including what medication is required while a patient stays in the discharge lounge. And finally, and very importantly; a regular check in with the person waiting to make sure there is no outstanding care issues.

Geraldton Hospital also has a process known as Aishwarya’s Call and Respond Early (CARE) Call for our patients, their carers or families to call for urgent assistance if they have a concern about a patient’s health or if it is felt that the healthcare team has not fully recognised a person’s concerns. The CARE call phone number across all Midwest Hospitals including Geraldton Hospital is 1800 316 729. If you would like further information about Aishwarya’s CARE Call please visit the WACHS website WA Country Health Service - Aishwarya’s CARE Call.

Also, I would like to thank you for taking the time to acknowledge your family is happy with the outpatient referral process. I will share this positive feedback with the outpatient team. I am the Operations Manager at Geraldton Hospital and I would really appreciate the opportunity to discuss your parents experience in further detail. I would genuinely welcome your call on 9956 2369 or via email at derek.fraser@health.wa.gov.au.

Geraldton Hospital is genuinely committed to listening and learning from the experiences of our patients and their families and carers and is very grateful to receive your feedback.

Regards,

Derek Fraser

Operations Manager Geraldton Hospital

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