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"Poor care after seizure"

About: Rockingham General Hospital / Emergency Department

(as a parent/guardian),

My child was taken by ambulance to RGH ED on recently after being I discovered him having a seizure in bed. This has never happened to my child before and was extremely distressing and frightening to see. My partner and I witnessed this seizure for 10 mins while on the phone to triple 000. The seizure had been going on prior to then for an unknown time. Once it was over my child was vomiting and drowsy.

Arrived in RGH ED via ambulance my child was taken to a bay within 5 mins and put on monitors given painkillers for headache and meds to stop the vomiting. I understand ED is busy but they did not see a Dr or have and bloods tests, neuro checks, scans or anything for over 7 hours. I understand the only reason they were then seen is because I said I was leaving to take them to another hospital instead and was unhappy with their care after being told there was still 7 patients ahead of them after 7 hours. I believe he should have been assessed further asap.

I then had to explain what had happened to 4 different drs and they still seemed to get the information wrong on my child's referral to see Neurologist and have a EEG.

On a positive note the nurses were lovely and so was the first Dr I spoke with called Michael. I understand the pressures in the ED and staffing but I feel this is completely unacceptable. I feel frustrated and concerned that it wasn’t until I said something that something was done. I have lost all faith the health system at this stage. My child is still not 100% today and it’s not known why the seizure occurred and now I am playing the waiting game again until they see a specialist. 

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Responses

Response from Clive Mulroy, A/Executive Director , Rockingham Peel Group, South Metropolitan Health Service 8 months ago
Clive Mulroy
A/Executive Director , Rockingham Peel Group,
South Metropolitan Health Service
Submitted on 13/09/2024 at 2:27 PM
Published on Care Opinion Australia at 3:45 PM


picture of Clive Mulroy

Dear cetuskd36,

I am very sorry to hear that your child has been so unwell and suffered a seizure. This must have been extremely distressing for you and I am very sorry that after receiving some medications you then waited a long time for your child to receive a more thorough assessment by a doctor.

The Emergency Department (ED) aims to see and treat all patients as soon as possible. Unfortunately, sometimes there may delays for patients waiting to be seen when the ED is full or has multiple patients suffering from life-threatening emergencies. During these times patients are assessed regularly by nursing staff who escalate any concerns to a medical officer for review. Patients, families or carers may also escalate their concerns if they feel that appropriate intervention has not occurred at any time using the Aishwarya’s CARE call process. This allows an independent review of the patient by the person responding to the Aishwarya’s CARE call. Concerned patients, families or carers can make a call from the ED waiting room using the pink Aishwarya’s CARE call phone or their own mobile phone.

Because there were significant delays for your child on this presentation, I encourage you to contact our consumer liaison officers on 9599 4323 to provide your child’s details. This will allow us to complete a thorough review of your child’s presentation and identify any areas that require improvement.

Thank you very much for sharing your story and for your kind words about the nursing staff and the first doctor you spoke with; I will pass this onto the ED team. I sincerely hope that your child is now recovering from their illness.

Kind regards,

Clive Mulroy

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