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Care Opinion

No positive outcomes

Posted By coordinationbs85

"No positive outcomes"

About: Fiona Stanley Hospital / Emergency Department

(as a parent/guardian),

My adult child collapsed on their bedroom floor with excruciating pain (my child has an auto immune disease and has many specialists but is trying to live life to their fullest while we, their parents, live hours away). My child waited 2 hours for an ambulance.

When it finally arrived, the paramedics were very caring and helpful. I am truly thankful to Ryan and Luke from St Johns Ambulance. You truly made a difference. Without these two paramedics speaking up for my child, I believe they would have been yet again left to wait (in pain) in the ED waiting room. During my child’s previous visit to FSH ED not long ago, they waited in pain for over 11 hours with occasional pain relief before finally going through to ED. Now we fully understand there is a pandemic and nursing staff are very overworked and understaffed but what I do not understand is when you present to the ED (and ED with Specialist Emergency Physicians) not once, not twice, but 3 times with the same recurring symptoms, it seems to me that Dr's do not take this into account but just decide to treat the symptoms and not admit my child so they can hopefully find and treat the cause.

I had numerous messages from my child, very sad messages where they tried to explain themselves but felt they were being dismissed and their concerns were not being taken seriously. I rang in the hopes of advocating for them and to let staff know my child was scared, upset and frustrated at feeling dismissed.

The first time I rang I was told bloods had been taken, they were waiting on x-ray and would know more after my child had seen a Dr. The second time I rang I admit I was upset, tired and frustrated because I believe I knew from my child’s messages they were not being listened to. My child has clinical knowledge and is very proactive with this disease and their care. This time I was informed that as my child is an adult, Dr's would speak directly to them and that they are not a specialist clinic, so they can only do a band-aid fix.

My child was in a bay all night even though they were informed by a Dr that patients who are in ED for longer than 4 hours should be moved to the emergency short stay unit. My child was discharged the following day with a script for oxycodone and a discharge letter with no new information but stating they were ‘otherwise well’.

The transition from a children's hospital through to an adult hospital has not been one for my child. To go from a team working collaboratively on all parts of their auto immune disease to seeing different specialists who I feel look at only one aspect of their disease has seen them, as my child says "fall through the cracks". My child has had some positive experiences but unfortunately the experiences of late have not been positive and have left them doubting themselves and feeling let down by the hospital and medical system.

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Responses

Response from Neil Doverty, Executive Director Fiona Stanley and Fremantle Hospitals Group, South Metropolitan Health Service 2 years ago
Neil Doverty
Executive Director Fiona Stanley and Fremantle Hospitals Group,
South Metropolitan Health Service

Submitted on 22/03/2022 at 7:08 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 23/03/2022 at 10:33 AM

picture of Neil Doverty

Dear coordinationbs85,

Thank you for reaching out to us via Care Opinion on your adult child’s behalf.

You raise some worrying points, particularly in regards to your adult child feeling dismissed and their concerns not being taken seriously. This warrants review, however for confidentiality reasons we require your adult child to initiate this process. They can do so by contacting our Patient and Family Liaison Service (PFLS) on 6152 4013 or via email: FSHFeedback@health.wa.gov.au. The PFLS acts on a patient’s behalf to facilitate a full review into the circumstances surrounding care and treatment.

We look forward to working with your adult child collaboratively and across teams as required, in order to ensure their health care needs are met.

Please pass this information on to your adult child.

Kind regards,

Neil Doverty

Group Executive Director

Fiona Stanley Fremantle Hospitals Group

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by coordinationbs85 (a parent/guardian)

Thank you for your reply and offer to review what occurred. This is something that I feel definitely warrants action and change.

A young adult in severe pain, upset, emotional and on their own is a difficult situation to be in but when you find your concerns are seemingly being dismissed and you are yet again sent home with no positive outcome, it becomes very disheartening and frustrating.

My child has now made the decision that when this happens again they will not be returning to FSH ED but will stay at home and try to treat themselves. This is of great concern to myself and my husband as when they were discharged this last time, it was with a script for Oxycodone.

I will pass all the information on and look forward to a positive outcome not only for my child but for future patients that attend FSH Emergency Department. I truly hope a difference is made.

Update posted by coordinationbs85 (a parent/guardian)

Mr Neil Doverty,

Further to my original post "No positive outcomes"

I finally managed to get an appointment for my child through the Gastro emergency clinic last week. We spent some time with the Dr who was concerned for them. Our child was assured they would do all they could to find out what was happening. They were given a card for the IBD Helpline and told if they had any problems to call them asap. My child was told this was not a 24 hour service but that if they left a message someone would contact them within 24 to 48 hours. With all the years my child has been attending clinics at FSH this was the first we had heard of the helpline.

On Thursday, my child yet again developed severe stomach pain with nausea and vomiting. They rang the helpline but as it was after hours did not leave a message. They again rang the following morning, Friday at 8.28am. This time they left a message with all their information as well as the trouble they were having. Now we understand that my child rang the day before the weekend and that it could take up to 48 hours for someone to contact them but as I write this, it is 3.19pm Tuesday and my child is yet to have anyone from the IBD Helpline contact them. To say my child feels let down yet again by FSH is, I feel, an understatement. What is the purpose of having a helpline when there is not help given? My child now not only feels the Emergency Department at FSH will be of no help to them when they need but also the IBD Helpline will also be of no help. Can someone at FSH please let us know where we go from here? How bad does it have to get before someone actually decides to follow through and give the help needed?

Response from Neil Doverty, Executive Director Fiona Stanley and Fremantle Hospitals Group, South Metropolitan Health Service 2 years ago
Neil Doverty
Executive Director Fiona Stanley and Fremantle Hospitals Group,
South Metropolitan Health Service

Submitted on 14/04/2022 at 10:05 AM
Published on Care Opinion at 11:00 AM

picture of Neil Doverty

Dear coordinationbs85,

I’m sorry to hear that your adult child feels let down by the IBD Helpline.

The IBD Helpline card contains a phone number plus an email address. The team prefers the option of the email as it ensures that messages can be logged and actioned, and are sorry that this was not explained to your adult child.

We have only very recently changed the IBD Helpline message (on Monday 11 April) to suggest other options if our patients have concerns and are unable to get through – for example to contact their GP or Health Direct, or in emergency situations attend an Emergency Department.

I have discussed your Care Opinion post with the team who have advised me that the only time they are unable to return calls are if messages / voice recordings are not audible. If this was the case with your adult child we apologise and encourage that they phone again, or better still, email the IBD Helpline team.

Kind regards,

Neil Doverty.

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by coordinationbs85 (a parent/guardian)

Good morning Mr Doverty,

Thank you for your reply. It is helpful to others using the helpline that the message has now been changed. This however does not help our child. On the occasions they have rung Health Direct they have advised them to immediately attend the Emergency Department. As I stated previously my child has decided that there would be no point in this. With the long wait times and band aid solutions offered they feel staying home and making an appointment to see the GP is their only option.

As to their message for help left Friday at 8.28 am, my child finally received a call back from the Helpline at 9.25am this morning (14/04/2022) while on the phone to the Gastroenterology Dr so the message my child left was most definitely not inaudible in my opinion.

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