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"My pregnant daughters treatment in emergency department"

About: Exmouth Health Service / Emergency Department

(as a parent/guardian),

My daughter presented at Exmouth hospital recently.  She is in her second trimester and had not felt baby move all day. She tried many things all day to prompt movement that usually worked and like any first time mother was becoming very worried.  She has on 2 previous occasions gone to hospital for the same reason and the doctor on call explained this is the correct thing to do and would always be welcomed. 

This time when she presented and the doctor arrived she greeted them with hi mate and their reply I recall was 'I'm not your mate'. It seemed they then questioned her about her general health and diet, telling her that if her diet was good then why was she worried. Other questions followed. The doctor also asked her about any drug use in what I felt was a derogatory manner. She cried to me that their attitude, accusing tone and the fact that they had to come half way across town to see her, made her feel totally attacked.  The nurse present felt the need to intervene as my daughter was extremely distressed by this doctors seemingly aggressive attitude toward her. And I thank them for doing so! The nurse explained to the doctor that all midwives tell you to always come to hospital to be checked if no movement. 
On each and every occasion my daughter has attended this hospital she has had always been treated with respect and her concerns dealt with with compassion and professionalism. 
I felt this was definitely not the case this day!
For the nursing staff to interject, I believe this doctor was obviously completely out of order!
My daughter left the hospital extremely distressed with another nurse following her outside to try to calm her before she had to drive.
I am beyond angry and upset that this doctor has treated my daughter in this way and expect disciplinary action to be taken, plus retraining be undertaken to improve their 'bedside manner'

Please contact to tell me what action will or has been taken.

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Responses

Response from Kumar Deep, Operations Manager- Gascoyne, WA Country Health Service 16 months ago
Kumar Deep
Operations Manager- Gascoyne,
WA Country Health Service
Submitted on 29/12/2022 at 12:15 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 12:20 PM


picture of Kumar Deep

Dear tangobg79

Thank you for sharing your daughter’s experience with us on Care Opinion.

I was shocked to read your story and the behaviours you’ve described do not reflect WA Country Health Service’s commitment to providing respectful, non-judgmental care to all members of our community. Your daughter is quite correct with her approach to seek immediate assistance if she has any concerns for her pregnancy. I would like to sincerely apologise to your daughter and yourself for the distress this has caused.

I would like to assure you we take your concerns very seriously and I shall have our Senior Medical Officer investigate them. I would be very grateful if you would contact me so I can obtain some more details to allow this to occur. My name is Kumar Deep, I am the Operations Manager Gascoyne and can be contacted on 9941 0300.

For immediate assistance I would like to share with you a process we have at the hospital called Aishwarya’s CARE Call. You may notice in our ED, posters about Aishwarya’s CARE Call, which is a 1800 number for patients, carers and families to raise their concerns if they or someone they care for is getting sicker. In the Midwest, no matter what hospital you go to this number is 1800 316 729 or you can find out more here at: WA Country Health Service - Aishwarya’s CARE Call.

I was pleased to read how positive your daughter’s previous attendances have been and how supportive the nursing staff were and that they checked on your daughter’s welfare to ensure she was comfortable to drive.

I look forward to speaking with you.

Regards,

Kumar Deep

Operations Manager – Gascoyne

WA Country Health Service Midwest

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