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Care Opinion

ED triage

Posted By earthym56

"ED triage"

About: St John of God Midland Hospital / Emergency Department

(as a parent/guardian),

Presented with my child who had broken their ankle (swollen, off centre and in a degree of pain). Not triaged at the door - had to wait till it was my child's turn - behind stomach aches and sniffles. Child beside us had a lacerated finger with bone protrusion, was white with pain.

Once seen (50 mins later) we were told by the triage nurse that we would be seen quicker in the GP clinic down the hall.

We were eventually admitted to ED for treatment when the Radiologist personally escorted us there and made the doctors aware of the situation.

I felt angry that no one was categorising patients at the door in regards to severity of symptoms (hence the name triage) I was also appalled by the ED nurse's failure to recognise a clearly broken limb and act accordingly.

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Responses

Response from Natalia Marais, Patient Experience Coordinator, Quality and Risk, St John of God Midland Public and Prive Hospitals 5 years ago
Natalia Marais
Patient Experience Coordinator, Quality and Risk,
St John of God Midland Public and Prive Hospitals

Submitted on 20/08/2018 at 5:52 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 21/08/2018 at 9:09 AM

Dear earthym69

I was very concerned to learn of your recent experience in the Emergency Department (ED) at St John of God Midland Public Hospital and we would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you directly regarding your child’s presentation. All patients presenting to ED are reviewed by the triage nurse and allocated an Australian Triage Score. The triage system is under constant review to ensure all of our patients are reviewed in a timely manner based on order of clinical need. I encourage you to provide your contact details to our Consumer Liaison Coordinator on 9462 4000 or at info.midland@sjog.org.au, so that we can address the issues you raised. I look forward to hearing from you.

Michael Hogan

Chief Executive Officer, St John of God Midland Public Hospital

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

Update posted by earthym56 (a parent/guardian)

Thank you for your prompt response Michael and I'm sure 90% of the time your system works reasonably well, but on this occasion two young children were sadly not reviewed in a timely manner and definitely not seen in order of clinical need - much to their physical and mental detriment.

Response from Michael Hogan, Chief Executive Officer, St John of God - Midland 5 years ago
Michael Hogan
Chief Executive Officer,
St John of God - Midland

Submitted on 21/08/2018 at 11:50 AM
Published on Care Opinion at 12:35 PM

Dear earthym69

Thank you for your response. As stated, the hospital require further detail to fully address your concerns. At this stage we are unable to assess the validity of your concerns and need to complete an investigation into the care provided for your child. This will then allow us to identify and address any inefficiencies or shortcomings in our processes and procedures and implement quality improvements or change where necessary. I again encourage you to provide your contact details to our Consumer Liaison Coordinator on 9462 4000 or at info.midland@sjog.org.au, so that we can address the issues you raised. I look forward to hearing from you.

Michael Hogan

Chief Executive Officer, St John of God Midland Public Hospital

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Update posted by earthym56 (a parent/guardian)

Hi Michael,

We have contacted the Liaison Officer on the number you have kindly provided and you and the ED Nurse Manager are now fully briefed on the case.

If I may offer a suggestion to resolve these issues in future: an apporopriate place to start in any QI pertaining to this (these) occurrences may be to institute a "fast track" area within ED for true Accident and Emergent traumas, as opposed to generic unwell patients, where they can be medically assessed and triaged following initial presentation.

Many thanks for following up on this matter.

Response from Michael Hogan, Chief Executive Officer, St John of God - Midland 5 years ago
Michael Hogan
Chief Executive Officer,
St John of God - Midland

Submitted on 22/08/2018 at 12:52 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 1:11 PM

Dear earthym56

Thank you for contacting us and providing further information. This will enable us to complete a thorough investigation into the issues you raised. I appreciate your interest in this matter and please be assured we will be in touch following our investigation.

Michael Hogan

Chief Executive Officer, St John of God Midland Public Hospital

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