"Poor Post Procedural Care"

My parent attended Canberra Hospital for a Colonoscopy with Removal of Polyps.

I returned to collect my parent following their procedure. They were let out into the waiting area unaccompanied, and were looking quite pale and unwell when they walked over to where I was waiting for them. I would have expected for a nurse to have accompanied my parent and speak to myself as the person picking them up to pass on information regarding post care.

My parent mentioned that they felt a little lightheaded and felt as though it took longer following this procedure to recover, compared to their previous colonoscopy several months before. They felt rushed by the nurse looking after them post procedure. My parent felt that they had barely had time to wake up enough, eat the sandwich provided, before being told to get off the trolley and get dressed to leave. 

I felt my parent did not receive appropriate post care information with regards to what to monitor for, and what to expect. We were required to remain in Canberra overnight, before making the 3 hour trip home. My parent had not been provided with any analgesia, and was experiencing quite a lot of discomfort by the time we arrived home.

My parent received a phone call Day 2 post procedure, and reported what had been happening and that they had experienced quite a lot of discomfort and was advised that a script would be sent to their usual pharmacy for stronger pain relief, but unfortunately this did not happen.

Overall, compared to their previous experience in the same department, for a similar procedure, this time, I felt the care received post procedure was quite poor.