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Care Opinion

Outpatient Referral for my child

Posted By Thatpilbaramum

"Outpatient Referral for my child"

About: Perth Children's Hospital

(as a service user),

My child was referred for an EEG at PCH and unfortunately at the time of writing this, there has been no communication to myself or referring hospital that this was received. Being that I reside in a country town which is over 1500km away I would like to be prepared for the journey. 

When calling recently to ask if it has been received, I was informed yes and a tentative month of July (no date would be released by the clerk). The clerk stated I would receive a letter 3 weeks prior. Again my child and I reside 1500km away and in my experience, the postal service is something questionable and very unreliable. 3 weeks for a country patient to plan a trip to PCH is not feasible with life commitments and confirmation via mail is also not reliable. 

I question if those in metro areas would receive the same notification and communication? It is completely inappropriate and there is no consideration for families like mine who are stressed knowing their child's care may be compromised due to lack of communication and issues with correspondence. 

Please make more consideration for those in country and using the term COVID as an excuse I feel, truly needs to be removed from Health Care facilities as I believe there is more to the world the covid and in my opinion, other health matter are very important and are being missed.

I do hope that further consideration and compassion for families in regional country areas, as I believe living remote should not be a reason for second class care or communication.

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Responses

Response from Tim Jones, Co-Director Medicine, Child and Adolescent Health Service - WA nearly 2 years ago
Tim Jones
Co-Director Medicine,
Child and Adolescent Health Service - WA

Head of Department

Submitted on 6/05/2022 at 7:25 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 9/05/2022 at 8:56 AM

Dear Thatpilbaramum

Thank you for sharing your feedback about your child’s outpatient referral appointment for an EEG with the Neurology Department at Perth Children’s Hospital (PCH).

On behalf of PCH, I apologise for the delay in being notified of your child’s outpatient appointment. Our staff try to accommodate patients who live regionally and coordinate EEG on dates where they may be coming to Perth or have other hospital appointments, however, this isn’t always possible. The neurology staff also try to perform the EEGs in a timely way but there is a large demand and urgent cases are added on a case by case basis which can disrupt appointments. We are working to address these problems as we know they are important for families.

We appreciate your feedback as it highlights the problems faced by families living in regional locations. Please be assured that your feedback is valued and will be used to improve our services for patients and families as we strive to meet our consumer’s needs more effectively.

Please contact our Consumer Engagement team if you have any further questions on (08) 6456 0032 or at CAHSFeedback@health.wa.gov.au.

Kind regards

Dr Tim Jones
Co-Director of Medicine
Child and Adolescent Health Service
Perth Children's Hospital

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