My elderly parent-in-law was taken by ambulance to Joondalup ED, I arrived believing they would be in ED itself. I was in the waiting room when I saw them sitting in a wheelchair in the general ED waiting area. Never in my experience have I seen an ambulance arrival be placed in the general waiting area. My in-law told me they had been waiting there for around 2 hours. We sat patiently waiting for 4 1/2 hours, at which point I had to leave. During that time we saw many seemingly able bodied people go through into ED to be processed, causing distress to my in-law.
Around 4 hours into my in-law's arrival, we raised a concern about their diabetes, with them not having eaten or drunk since that morning, we were told their BSL was 12.7 on arrival, and that was it, no sugar recheck. We understood the need for fasting until being reviewed, but we also knew as the more dehydrated my in-law got the more confused they would become. A relative stayed on with them for a further 2 hours (close to midnight), at which point staff were unable to tell them when they would be seen, not even a slight guess.
Their relative took the initiative to take my in-law to another hospital instead - they were seen within 30 minutes of their arrival.
What is happening at Joondalup? I found the communication was lacking, I recall there were at least 2 other people waiting who it seemed were quite poorly who I believe had been waiting in excess of 7 hours. Most importantly to my relative and I, we felt our parent was largely being ignored, except for one dose of panadol and a pulse and oxygen saturation observation.
Can you please give me a reason why we should place our confidence in Joondalup health campus again?
"Wait times"
About: Joondalup Health Campus / Emergency Department Joondalup Health Campus Emergency Department Joondalup 6027
Posted by Parentsguardians (as ),
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