"ED visit to FSH after a fall"

My Mum (in her 80s) is currently visiting from NZ and we had a lovely outing planned to the Disney 100 concert last weekend. As we were heading out the door Mum had a fall into our sunken lounge. A wound on her elbow was bad enough for an ED visit so we chose the closest to us which was FSH after a quick review of the wait times online.

Mum was blown away by the care she received in ED. I felt the patient flow from entry to triage to x-ray to ED was well managed. Once in the ED bay Mum was quickly and thoroughly assessed by Dr H who listened and gave excellent explanations of what to expect. Then Dr P also attended- and his apparent level of attention to all detail and holistic care left Mum feeling so valued and cared for as an older adult.

The nurses followed the falls pathway and I felt Mum was assessed thoroughly which saw her discharged on some antibiotics as well for an infection. Dr P stitched up Mum’s elbow and we were able to leave ED and get to see the afternoon concert!

We received a follow up call this week from Dr H, with recommendation to change the antibiotics as the cultures showed the bug was resistant to the ones prescribed. We’ve been able to get Mum on the right antibiotic’s now.  We also received an, I felt, excellent discharge summary in the post as promised (we chose to leave before being handed a copy so we could get to the concert) which Mum will be able to show her GP back in NZ. Thanks so much Dr H for providing all the follow up communication to what I felt was such a high standard!

Both of us clinicians, Mum and I couldn’t fault any of the care given. I believe it was to an exceptional standard with a high level of care and professionalism on every interaction, and we both appreciated that so much. Thank you!

I don’t think I can do justice in writing to the expertise and attentiveness I felt was displayed by Dr P, who even noticed when he came back into the room that the bed needed lowering for Mum as she sat up (after I had raised it while he was out of the room). He made sure Mum had something to eat and drink, and I felt took so much care, listening for any clues for further assessment needed. I believe he well and truly deserves recognition for his bedside compassion combined with excellent medical care. Thank you so much Dr P.

As Maya Angelou said “ … people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”.

Mum is recovering really well, and so very grateful for the care shown during her visit to Fiona Stanley ED last weekend.