"Failure to communicate results for strep throat"

I took my child in to emergency due to concerns of strep throat. They didn’t have a fever or appear unwell and the time, but had extremely large, pus filled tonsils that were red with dots and a strawberry tongue.

I explained that they have had episodes of strep throat before which looked exactly the same and that I was sure it was that again. The Doctor questioned me on this, are you sure? Has it ever been confirmed on a swab? I said I am positive. I requested a swab this time around which was done and asked for a script for antibiotics in case my child spiked a fever I could begin treatment. The Doctor said they believed it was viral and didn’t think antibiotics were necessary but agreed if my child spiked a fever or the results came back positive to start treatment. The Doctor advised to wait for the swab results and if it was positive they would call and we could commence treatment.

I explained the importance of being notified as my child is aboriginal and at high risk of complications.

I never received a call so assumed that it was viral as the doctor thought, after two weeks I logged on to My Health Record to check if the results were on there as my child’s tonsils were still so enlarged and red and sure enough they were positive for a strep A infection and had carried this infection for weeks. I was in Perth at the time and was advised by two different doctors that because it was left untreated for so long and because my child was aboriginal and at risk of rheumatic fever I should head straight to the hospital for possible admission for my child for treatment.

By this point the swelling was so bad I needed both steroids and a long course of antibiotics to treat the infection.

A few weeks later and everything is still very enlarged, I was told it’s going to take longer for recovery due to the length of infection.

I phoned the hospital and spoke to the ED doctor who saw my child weeks earlier and explained how unacceptable it was these results were missed, I recall their response was, they haven’t been in sorry, I feel this is an absolutely poor excuse.

Regardless who is responsible for screening these results and making sure patients are notified of potentially life threatening illnesses?

Based on my experience, disappointed at the service is an understatement.