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"Medication missing"

About: Royal Perth Hospital / Emergency Department

(as the patient),

On an evening in Februrary 2024 I was taken through to the emergency department and was advised I needed to hand over all of my medication which included low dose naltrexone, 3mg. I handed this to a Nurse who had ' yellow team' stickers on their scrubs. 

I complied and was given a green slip to present upon discharge to get my medication back/ it would go with me to a new ward. 

They next evening I was advised that the Low dose naltrexone wasn't with my medication however this nurse advised me that they left voicemails with ED/ other wards to find out where this was. This was now two doses I had missed, doses of a medication I need to manage chronic illness symptoms. 

On the following evening I was advised that the Nurse had called the ED and the ED could not find the Low Dose Naltrexone, it was now ' lost.' I was advised nothing more can be done as it's a weekend night/ low staff however pharmacy might follow up in the morning, I was also advised that this isn't an un-common occurrence. This is now three doses I have missed which has contributed to a physical/ mental decline. 

I get that errors do occur ( like me waiting for an extra three hours on a weekend morning to be admitted as I'd been quote " forgotten about")  especially in an emergency department however I believe missing patients' medication, especially one as expensive as low dose naltrexone is not okay. Medication can be essential to a patients well-being and in a lot of cases survival.

I do request a follow up to find out what's happened to my low dose naltrexone 3mg and for it to be returned to me ASAP, if this medication can not be returned I do request compensation as 5/6 days worth of expensive medication has now ' gone missing.' 

Other than this medication error I can not fault the treatment I've received. 

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Responses

Response from Ben Noteboom, Executive Director, Royal Perth Bentley Group 2 months ago
Ben Noteboom
Executive Director,
Royal Perth Bentley Group
Submitted on 1/03/2024 at 6:32 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 4/03/2024 at 10:12 AM


picture of Ben Noteboom

Dear Tired1234

I was sorry to hear you were discharged from Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) without your low dose Naltrexone, after being told it had been lost. I acknowledge medication can be essential to a patient’s well-being and apologise for any distress caused.

It was lovely to read that apart from your lost medication you could not fault the treatment you received. It assures me the staff at RPH are continually striving to provide high quality, patient centred care.

In order for RPH to investigate your concerns in relation to the loss of your medication please contact the Royal Perth Bentley Group (RPBG) Patient Experience on (08) 9224 1637, 8am to 4pm or email RPBG.feedback@health.wa.gov.au.

Kind regards

Ben Noteboom

Executive Director

Royal Perth Bentley Group

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by Tired1234 (the patient)

Thank you for your reply, this medication has been returned to me and I thank those who chased it up and were in contact with me. Thank you!

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