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The care in the emergency department and the surgical ward

Posted By millimeterpn77

"The care in the emergency department and the surgical ward"

About: Albany Health Campus / Emergency Department Albany Health Campus / Surgical Ward

(as a relative),

Several weeks ago I took my spouse to the ED as they were quite unwell. They were seen in a very timely manner by the caring compassionate Dr Meichi. While it took sometime to find the cause, she left no stone unturned. I felt the nurses we saw were wonderful too, so caring and attentive. Nothing was too much trouble.

My spouse was eventually admitted to the surgical ward after being seen by the surgical team and Dr Yeboah, at our request.

On the surgical ward the nursing and medical care continued to be top class. 

After 6 days of wonderful care, my spouse was discharged home.

There was however a negative experience. As the ED was busy and it was late in the day, we were told that the paperwork could be completed the following morning to use our private health insurance.

My spouse phoned me the following morning saying they had been visited by a staff member regarding the private insurance. The staff member had told my spouse that there might be out of pocket expenses on any imaging and that the specialist centre surgeons charged very high fees which would result in more out of pocket expenses. I was annoyed that they did this to a person who was not only unwell but under the influence of medication. When I arrived on the ward and asked to speak to the staff member, they didn’t seem to understand what my point was and said it was their job to encourage people to use their private insurance! 

The end result of this discussion was that we chose not to use our private insurance . 

My understanding is that WA public hospitals offer you a no out of pocket guarantee, at least that’s what the pamphlet states that they give to patients. 

The end result of this fiasco is that the hospital missed out on 6 days of private insurance payments as I understand it.

That issue aside I believe the people of Albany can feel very confident that we have an excellent emergency department and hospital to care for us. The nursing staff we saw were excellent also, despite the pressures, with some I believe working 12 hour shifts. 

We are grateful to everyone involved in my spouse's care- thank you.

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Responses

Response from Wendy McKinley, A/ AHC Director, WACHS GS 8 months ago
Wendy McKinley
A/ AHC Director,
WACHS GS

Submitted on 14/08/2023 at 1:12 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 1:15 PM

Dear millimeterpn77,

Thank you for your post about your husband’s experience at Albany Health Campus. I imagine you have a lot going on so I do appreciate you having gone to the effort to let us know about what you felt went well, and what you did not.

It is really gratifying to see that you felt that your husband received excellent care during his time with us. The team here in Albany are truly committed and care deeply for their patients and their community. I have only been in this role for a short while and in my time here I have been impressed to see them working tirelessly in delivering world class care.

It is a shame that this was marred by your experience with the staff member who spoke with your husband, and then yourself, regarding the private patient pathway and fees.

We do not routinely wait for spouses to be at the bedside when having conversations with independent patients regarding private health insurance. I see your point regarding the fact that your husband was under the influence of medication and we can certainly look at ways to avoid this in the future.

In respect of the fees themselves, I can let you know that whilst WACHS does not charge any private patient fees outsourced services, including radiology and private specialists, can choose to do so. Unfortunately, this means that private admissions can occasionally result in some out of pocket expenses.

I hope your husband has recovered well and that this response finds you well. If you would like to speak with me directly regarding this experience I would be very happy to hear from you. I am available on 0477 525 212 or you can email me at wendy.mckinley@health.wa.gov.au.

All the best

Wendy McKinley

A/Director Albany Health Campus

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