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"A child having an MRI"

About: St John of God Bunbury Hospital

(as a parent/guardian),

My child was booked into global diagnostics for an MRI. Upon arriving my child was understandably nervous. The reception were friendly, however from the moment my child was called, in my opinion, we were both treated appallingly. I felt staff members were rude unprofessional and inappropriate. They were abrupt and did not engage or explain the procedure to my child. One staff member described people who die if they have metal object such as a pacemaker, stating it will kill them. In my opinion, they were so forceful and pressing for time, I could barely fill out the form I felt they abruptly shoved into my face. Further when I booked the appointment I was told that my child could bring their own playlist of music. And that they would put the bottom of my child's torso in first leaving their head out as long as possible. In preparing my child I spent hours going over their playlist, watching YouTube footage and telling my child their head will go in last. My child was happy and felt confident about the procedure, minus a few nerves. After 10mins of, in my view, being mistreated pushed, prodded, and rushed, they quickly had us out, telling me I would be better off at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) - which we live 350km from. Furthermore, PMH has been permanently closed. I find this extremely concerning that a staff member in this field is dismissing patients and referring them to a place that is in fact shut down. My child was in tears by the end of their experience and I feel has been left emotionally traumatised and very reluctant to have an MRI. Although my child did say - Mum if they had been nice, I don’t think I would be scared - and - I thought they were going to talk to me and explain what was going to happen. I feel my child's experience was completely neglectful and drastically different from all the YouTube footage of MRI's for children. I’m unsure now if my child will ever be able to follow through without being sedated. 

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