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5.5 hours waiting ED

Posted By Long wait

"5.5 hours waiting ED"

About: Rockingham General Hospital / Emergency Department

(as a parent/guardian),

My teenage child was brought into ED via Ambulance with chest pain. I was over 200kms away. By the time I had made it to Rockingham Hospital (3 hours later) my child had moved to the waiting room. Their Obs had been done and an ECG. 

We'd been moved to the fast track area in ED. 5.5 hours later. Still not been seen by a doctor. Obviously my child's not dying, because 5.5 hours later. But even after calling Ashwariya's care call, at about 3.5 hours in, we were still waiting to be seen by a doctor. 5.5 hours later. 

And the kicker? My friend who brought my child to ED waited with them til I got here. And a nurse told us that we all couldn't stay. Where are we to go? We're over 200km away from home.

And yet there we were, 5.5 hours later. You have got to be kidding me.

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Responses

Response from Kath Smith, Executive Director, Rockingham Peel Group, South Metropolitan Health Service 15 months ago
Kath Smith
Executive Director, Rockingham Peel Group,
South Metropolitan Health Service

Submitted on 12/01/2023 at 2:48 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 3:08 PM

picture of Kath Smith

Dear Long wait

Thank you for taking the time to share your story regarding your recent experience in the Rockingham General Hospital (RGH) Emergency Department (ED). I am very sorry that your child experienced a longer wait time than is expected within our department. I do understand your frustration with waiting for your child to be seen by a doctor for 5.5 hours.

Whilst we aim to ensure that all patients are seen in a timely manner, increased demands on the health care system mean that patients are unfortunately experiencing longer waits across all regional healthcare facilities at this present time. I wanted to let you know that we are working on strategies to improve access to our ED, which will reduce wait times within the department.

Unfortunately, due to the ongoing situation surrounding COVID, it is hospital policy to limit the amount of visitors attending the department. We do this to reduce the introduction of COVID into our hospital system. It sounds like you have a supportive friend, and I’m sorry that visitor restrictions prevented you all from staying with your child.

I would appreciate hearing more about your experience of Aishwarya’s Care Call. This system was introduced for patients and/or carers to escalate any urgent concerns if they feel they or their loved one are getting sicker. I’d like to investigate the response you received, therefore I would encourage you to contact our Consumer Liaison Officers on 9599 4323. This will allow us to better understand the details of your presentation so that we may identify and action any areas where improvement is required.

Once again, thank you for providing feedback and I hope that your teenage child is recovering well.

Kind regards

Kath Smith

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