I was taken to the Blacktown emergency Department in the evening for severe pains in the abdominal region. I was given a pain tablet and left seated in the waiting room for an excess of 18 hours. My partner complained as I was too weak to speak for myself.
After several attempts of communicating what I felt was the neglect after noticing that all other patients were seen to and left as one of the last few. The pain was severe and it was my first personal visit to a hospital in over 20 years. I was then left in a hospital bed in the emergency department for several more hours until constantly asked about being moved to the ward as the admission was accepted but they advised that there was no porter available to relocate the bed to the ward.
I felt the neglect was as traumatic as the pain. The discharge process was very disjointed as I was discharged and removed from my bed, expected to sit in the foyer until the documents and medication became available. These were only prepared 6 hours later and at about 4:30 pm.
The pharmacy then advised that medications were unable to be dispensed as the protocol was not followed. It was advised that the course of medications was to be rigorously followed in a timely interval. This would not be broken due to what I felt was the incompetency of the bungling staff. The error took 6 hours to be realised at the close of business!
In my opinion, this is a demonstration of very poor workflow and procedures. Leaving an ill person to wait in an uncomfortable situation is very debilitating.
Waiting time
Team work
Medication