"Medical ward"

This is to do with my knee replacement. Ordinary doctors won’t prescribe the painkillers I need and I have a very low pain threshold. It’s now been six weeks since the operation. I tried Panadeine Forte, but it doesn’t work. I’m an elderly patient, I have all my faculties. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, and I’m boringly lawful, but I’ve learned to speak up for myself.

When I was admitted to St. John’s, I didn’t have any particular complaint—they just got on with the surgery. They let me out after five days, though it’s usually three, as they knew I lived on my own. I was very fortunate that my relative, who works in ED, gave me a ride to the hospital and back home. But I was in a lot of pain and had to get another pack of painkillers from my doctor.

In December, I went for a wound examination at my doctors and they looked at it. I wasn’t feeling well with the pain I had had two morphine patches but my second one dropped off in the shower and so I asked my doctor for another one and she said they will do give that to me in the hospital which they never did.

My relative came to Bunbury Regional emergency with me, and their partner brought in a frame for me. The staff kept asking, is that yours? Do you own it? I might have gotten a bit annoyed at one stage because my name was written all over it and they asked many many times if it was mine.

At St. John’s, after surgery, I had to recite the months of the year backward, which I understood—they’d given me anesthetic and done major surgery on my right knee. But in Bunbury, this little bunny nurse kept asking me the same thing to repeat the months of the year backward starting from December. I said to her, "Darling, do you really have to do it?" And I recall she told me that otherwise, I might end up in the dementia ward. I wasn’t upset with her—in my opinion, she’ll make a very good nurse if she can handle who I feel are the bullies in that ward. Not all the staff were bullies; many were marvellous. But I thought, what on earth is going on in the ward? Do they think everyone over 65 in Bunbury has dementia?

One day, when I was in the medical ward, a staff member came around. They asked if I wanted a cup of tea and I said, “Yes, please, that would be nice.” But when I saw it being sloshed towards me, I asked for more milk in my tea, and it seemed to make them very angry they seemed in a rage. Back they came with a bottle of milk with a light green lid - I’ve never seen milk with a light green lid before - and they sloshed it about. Some of it went into the basin of the tea.

I never got morning or afternoon tea until my last day, and I said to the nurse, "Do you usually get morning tea?" and she said yes everyday, but I hadn’t been receiving it. One time, my lunch was left outside my room. My relative saw it and brought it to me.

They told me not to ring the bell. I don’t think I rang it too much at all, but when the surgeons came in, I said, "Doctors, in this hospital, you’re not allowed to ring the bell. If you do, you get punished." They nearly fell on the floor.

I wasn’t rude. After another incident I got my bag and stuff together to sign the piece of paper and leave because I couldn’t stay another minute, but I forgot my blue shoes. If it weren’t for the blue shoes, I wouldn’t have gone back in there. I endured it, but I felt tormented. They were rude, and I thought, is this all because of a cup of tea?

Later, I went to complain after speaking to my relative about it. Shelby at the outpatient counter was very polite and gave me advice. I also spoke to Zoe at the hospital. She listened to me, and brought me into a very open room that didn’t feel very private and while I was there, a security guard kept pacing back and forth like I had a knife in my handbag. I felt it was very offensive.

I said to Zoe, "What on earth is going on in the ward? Do the tea staff run the ward? Why is everyone so rude?" I feel things are out of hand. In my opinion, they need to rotate the nurses more often and have more cameras. I feel they condemned me before they even got to know me.