"Patient care"

I believe that my spouse's health has been compromised by the lackadaisical treatment at Fiona Stanley Hospital.

My spouse was admitted to Fiona Stanley Hospital (FSH) during late last year after having 3 seizures in a 2 hr time-frame. The doctors were very uncommunicative. They would not take my phone calls nor ring back until our adult child happened to be visiting my spouse when the doctors came into the room. They had strong words with the doctors following a call from the doctor which I felt was condescending. Unfortunately due to their strong accent, from a non English speaking background, I found them very difficult to understand. Our child's opinion of the consultant leading them was that they were an arrogant *******.

At that time my spouse was diagnosed with a return of her previous breast cancer. It was 6 weeks before a plan of treatment was outlined. There were several frustrations in the ensuing months, culminating in the cause of my present wrath.

An appointment was made to see an Oncologist. At the time it was decided that an ultrasound procedure was needed to check her lymph nodes for signs of the cancer moving. After waiting in another room for a time, we were told that the procedure could not be done. Another appointment was made for the next month. However recently, Dale Cottages, where my wife resides in aged care, advised me the appointment has been delayed for a few more weeks. If the cancer has moved to the lymph nodes, her health is being compromised.

It is a sad state of affairs when a simple procedure like an ultrasound cannot be performed at short notice.

To add context to the situation, it is around a 1,000 km round trip for me to get to Fiona Stanley Hospital and home again due to living in a rural area.