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ED treatment

Posted By herculests63

"ED treatment"

About: Karratha Health Campus / Emergency Department

(as the patient),

I went in for a severe back spasm. It was crippling and I was unable to move for 2hours laying outside until I was finally able to muster the strength to get up and get help.

I presented at ED with my relatives. All the hospital staff I dealt with were amazing until I met a doctor. I informed them that I had wet myself when I couldn't walk to the toilet due to excruciating pain. They decided an internal examination was needed. Although I had the nurse present and trusted that this was appropriate I have since spoken to a few different Doctors, Physios, Nurses and other health care professionals as well as other patients that also experienced back spasms and none of them had an internal or thought it was appropriate.

I now feel violated and degraded.

I was given a speech about opioid use and walking off the pain instead. I do not use drugs, I am not a drug abuser and all I wanted was for the excruciating pain to stop. Instead of just prescribing me muscle relaxers like I suggested, I was prescribed tramadol, given Endone and made to walk out of the hospital.

I've since had to seek alternative treatment and am finally seeing an improvement in my condition.

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Responses

Response from Matt Wells, A/Operations Manager, West Pilbara, WA Country Health Service (WACHS) Pilbara 5 months ago
Matt Wells
A/Operations Manager, West Pilbara,
WA Country Health Service (WACHS) Pilbara

Submitted on 7/12/2023 at 2:36 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 2:36 PM

Dear herculests63,

Thank you for coming forward with your concerns regarding the care and treatment you received for back pain at the Karratha Health Campus Emergency Department.

I am very sorry that you have been left feeling violated and degraded, resulting from what appears to be a situation where the treating doctor has not explained the reason why an invasive examination was medically recommended and the process by which this would happen. While there are occasions when invasive procedures are necessary, these should always be accompanied with appropriate information about the procedure so that patients have the opportunity to ask questions and provide their consent.

I would appreciate being able to speak with you so that I can learn more about what happened and initiate a thorough review with our medical team. At the completion of the review, and if you are willing, I would like to involve you in discussions relating to any outcomes or recommendations resulting from the review. Please feel free to contact me at your convenience on 08 9144 7652 or via email at: Matthew.Wells@health.wa.gov.au

I am pleased to hear that the majority of our staff were ‘amazing’ and exemplified the care intrinsic to our organisational values.

Again, thank you for taking the time to share your story. I do hope that I hear from you in the near future.

Kind regards

Matt Wells

Operations Manager

WA Country Health Service West Pilbara

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