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Recommendations to improve EC

Posted By Patientcare

"Recommendations to improve EC"

About: King Edward Memorial Hospital / Maternity

(as the patient),

I waited in KEMH EC for eight hours due to a nonviable pregnancy and was waiting for an appointment with EPAS which had to be scheduled. An appointment was unable to be scheduled until I was seen by a doctor. Once I was admitted to EC they required medical documents that were on my phone, however, my phone had died as I had presented to EC straight from work and had to wait 8 hours in EC waiting room.

When I asked for a charger I was denied one. In my opinion, it would be great if EC had phone chargers available for patients. In addition I was highly stressed as couldn’t contact family members to inform them of my progress or when to pick me up. Staff were lovely and helpful but I think communication regarding delayed times could be improved. Also I feel it would be great to have signage in EC advising of where toilets /cafe and drink fountain is located. 

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Responses

Response from Matthew Skinner, Director Clinical Services, Women and Newborn Health Service about a year and a half ago
Matthew Skinner
Director Clinical Services,
Women and Newborn Health Service

Submitted on 11/10/2022 at 12:44 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 1:50 PM

Dear Patientcare,

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with the King Edward Memorial Hospital (KEMH) Emergency Centre (EC). At KEMH, we endeavour to provide our patients with a positive experience upon every visit to our service and I am disheartened that this was not the case for you on this occasion.

I am sorry to hear that you were waiting for 8 hours to be assessed and for an appointment in the EPAS clinic arranged. I understand how frustrating it can be at times to be waiting in the hospital for long periods of time, and that this frustration was clearly heightened when your phone battery died, and you were not able to contact your family.

Upon receiving your feedback, a walkthrough of the EC was undertaken to identify opportunities to improve patient experience including increased signage for toilets and cafes.

Currently we do not provide phone chargers due to Infection Prevention and Control restrictions, however if patients have their own chargers there are two USB ports in the ED waiting room for patient use.

I am very pleased to hear that you had a positive experience with our lovely EC staff and were happy with the communication provided to you.

I encourage you to reach out to our Consumer Liaison Service on (08) 6458 1444 or via email WNHSCLS@health.wa.gov.au so that a member of our clinical team can review the reason why you experienced a long wait time in the EC.

Our service strives to always provide quality, patient-centred care and rely on feedback such as yours to ensure that we make the best decisions for our patients. I will ensure that your feedback is provided to the staff of our Emergency Centre and your experience is used as an opportunity to reflect on the service we provide.

Thank you for taking the time to let us know how the issues mentioned impacted your visit.

Your sincerely,

Matthew Skinner

A/Executive Director

Women and Newborn Health Service

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