This is Care Opinion [siteRegion]. Did you want Care Opinion [usersRegionBasedOnIP]?
Care Opinion

ED experience

Posted By andromedaxr49

"ED experience"

About: Albany Health Campus / Emergency Department

(as a parent/guardian),

I took my teenage child to ED with a GP letter, our GP had advised us to go to ED for further investigation.

There were a lot of people upon arrival (approx mid-morning) I believe it took approximately 2 hours to be triaged. Then a further 2.5 hours to be seen by a doctor. Whilst my child wasn't critical, they had been sick for an extended period of time, and doctors felt further investigation was needed. I understand those with heart or breathing issues go first, and also those non-critical that arrived before us, but when a middle-aged individual I believe, who had cut their leg hiking, was bandaged up, not bleeding I believe, and in my opinion, not causing discomfort, went straight through virtually upon their arrival, and left us still waiting, I felt that was the last straw, surely a child that had been waiting over 4 hours should have been seen before them. 

There is no parking anywhere at the hospital, I feel it's a disgrace, I believe there are not enough beds, nurses or doctors. In my opinion, this town has grown and it seems the hospital system is clearly not coping. I believe it needs to be fixed.

More about:
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Juan Clark, Operations Manager, Operations, Albany Health Campus, WACHS Great Southern 2 years ago
We are preparing to make a change
Juan Clark
Operations Manager, Operations,
Albany Health Campus, WACHS Great Southern

Submitted on 22/11/2021 at 11:56 AM
Published on Care Opinion at 12:26 PM

Dear andromedaxr49,

Thank you for taking the time to share the story of your teenage child’s experience in the Emergency Department of the Albany Health Campus. I am really sorry that you felt that you had to wait too long to be seen by the team in ED. It is not possible to comment on your individual experience with out more information. However, EDs are complex environments and it is not always possible to discern on observation exactly how unwell someone is. We have a poster that explains the Triage process to people in the waiting room which explains that people with limb threatening problems will be prioritised for assessment (as will people with life threatening problems).

We do have a live feed of waiting time information that indicates, based on your triage score, how long you are likely to be waiting and counting down the minutes to be seen for particular triage scores. Currently, it is under repair. We understand that often the frustration is in not knowing how long the wait will be.

With regards to your comment regarding parking and the number of nurses and doctors on site, the WA Country Health Service Great Southern is currently carrying out a future planning exercise for the site. This will hopefully allow us to ensure that we have the staff and services to meet the community’s needs. We recognise that parking is a current and ongoing issue, so there are frequent reminders to staff to only park in staff parking areas to ensure that our community has easy access to the main entrance of the hospital.

I hope that your child has made a full recovery.

With best wishes,

Juan Clark

Operations Manager

Albany Health Campus

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k