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Care Opinion

Put at risk

Posted By tucanayc57

"Put at risk"

About: Hedland Health Campus / Emergency Department

(as a service user),

Went to the emergency department in Hedland recently. While waiting to be triaged I overheard a staff member saying to another clinician don’t be surprised if these tests come back positive, I believe referring to the patient and their child that the staff member was triaging before me. I was then asked to grab some wipes off the wall and wipe the area down before I sat down. I stated that I would rather stand. I was informed that I needed to sit to be triaged. And I stated that I would rather stand and that I didn’t feel comfortable cleaning the area as I had broken skin on my hand. I was then given gloves and told that I needed to be seated so they could hear me.

As I really needed to see a doctor, I very unhappily cleaned the seat and sat down. I was then asked to go to the next counter. Then back to the chair I started in after someone else sat in it talking to the clinician. I then sat in the waiting room watching staff bring in dialysis patients to be COVID tested before their treatment in a room full of seemingly symptomatic people and not once did I see anyone clean the triage area before any of them were called over and handed their paperwork of their COVID test. I felt I completely understood why there was such a COVID outbreak when these are what seem to be the safety protocols in our emergency department.

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Responses

Response from Louise Steedman, Operations Manager, East Pilbara, WA Country Health Service (WACHS) Pilbara 2 years ago
Louise Steedman
Operations Manager, East Pilbara,
WA Country Health Service (WACHS) Pilbara

Manages the operations of health services located in East Pilbara

Submitted on 1/04/2022 at 3:55 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 4/04/2022 at 8:47 AM

Dear tucanayc57,

Thank you for providing your feedback about your recent experience when attending the Hedland Health Campus Emergency Department.

I have shared your feedback with the Director Of Nursing and Midwifery and as a result we have reminded all staff to be mindful of their surroundings and to ensure that patient related conversations are conducted in a confidential and professional manner at all times.

Also of concern is that you were requested to clean the triage area surfaces, and although you expressed you did not feel comfortable doing this due to broken skin on your hand, you were provided gloves and felt compelled so you could see a doctor. I’m very sorry that this request made you feel uncomfortable. We do have signage in place in this area requesting patients (if willing and able) to wipe down counter tops. This is to prevent nursing staff coming out in between every patient to clean the area. In the instance a patient is unable or feels uncomfortable to do this, then the triage nurse/ward clerk should carry this out. Again, we have reminded staff of this protocol and to ensure adequate explanations are provided and patients concerns are listened to actioned accordingly.

In regard to the patient flow for COVID at the Hedland Health Campus, I would like to assure you our current process ensures all our patients and visitors are provided with a mask and have a Rapid Antigen Test performed if experiencing any symptoms. Any patients identified as COVID +VE enter the ED through a separate entrance and are seen in a designated area. We also have segregation of the waiting room into respiratory and non-respiratory areas. This is divided off with perspex screens to prevent cross contamination. I also confirmed with the Patient Services Coordinator that hourly cleaning of the desk area, waiting room and toilets is occurring with check sheets provided as evidence.

Once again, thank you for your feedback. It has provided us with the opportunity to strengthen our communication and protocols to ensure patient confidentiality and infection prevention and control measures are implemented and maintained by all of our staff.

Kind regards

Louise Steedman

Operations Manager East Pilbara

WA Country Health Service (WACHS) Pilbara

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Update posted by tucanayc57 (a service user)

Any patients identified as COVID +VE enter the ED through a separate entrance and are seen in a designated area. We also have segregation of the waiting room into respiratory and non-respiratory areas. This is divided off with perspex screens to prevent cross-contamination?

This may be the protocols on paper Louise, but in my experience, definitely not the actions of after-hours staff…I am still completely mortified that people on dialysis were taken into a room of sick people with COVID symptoms simply to have a Rapid Antigen Test to have their treatment... from what I saw, they were not segregated at all and they were certainly not put in an area to prevent cross-contamination…they are in the high-risk category and their families probably go the extra yard to keep them safe until they are dropped off at the hospital for life-saving treatment to be, as I perceive it, thrown into a small room of people with Covid symptoms….absolutely mind-boggling in my opinion!

Response from Louise Steedman, Operations Manager, East Pilbara, WA Country Health Service (WACHS) Pilbara 2 years ago
Louise Steedman
Operations Manager, East Pilbara,
WA Country Health Service (WACHS) Pilbara

Manages the operations of health services located in East Pilbara

Submitted on 7/04/2022 at 7:00 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 8/04/2022 at 8:53 AM

Thank you for your reply tucanayc57. The wearing of face masks provides good protection and reduces spread of COVID for patients and staff alike. Unfortunately the infrastructure of the hospital is not conducive for every infection prevention measure and we are limited in what we can do in short timeframes to introduce new policies and procedures.

Please be assured that the dialysis patients were all safe and received their treatments without incident.

Warm Regards

Louise

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