My neighbour was admitted to the hospital with various symptoms, febrile sweats, joint aches, fatigue and feeling generally unable to function. Their spouse was told they had sepsis, had multiple tests and no clear idea of the cause. They were in the hospital for about 6 days, treated with antibiotics. Their discharge summary stated to make an appointment with GP and have an outpatient follow up in 2 weeks. Their spouse waited 2 hours due to lack of script availability - but both medications were over the counter and did not require scripts (Panadol & Neurofen). Their discharge summary stated nil GP & I believe was not updated during admission. Their request for a copy of pathology and diagnostics was declined.
The patient needed to obtain a new local GP but still had a previous one and I recall at no stage was their record updated from ED to ward prior to their discharge which limited the ability to ensure discharge summary and results were followed up by GP. It seemed to me multiple gaps in process occurred and client centred care seemed to be missing.
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Although a doctor rang the next day to follow up, their experience of the hospital discharge was an uninformed, unsatisfactory experience. No discharge summary was provided by ED or the ward.
As I understand it, limited information was provided to the patient or the spouse. The patient had a history of Haemochromatosis, deranged LFT, and arthritis. They were seen by an infectious disease professional and COVID was excluded.