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"Head injury and concussion"

About: Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital

(as the patient),

I had an accident at work with a wooden ladder falling from the ceiling, with no pulley system falling onto my head. I panicked that I was going to die I drove myself to the hospital. 

I was seen by a doctor straight away being a head injury and after an hour of cognitive behaviour testing the doctor said right you can go home now and I said no I don't think so - I am not okay and I am not feeling well and I have a high pain tolerance and there is something wrong with me. I explained I would be going home with no one to care for me and I felt I needed to be in the hospital in case I got worse. The doctor said no you will be fine to get in your car and drive home because you drove here and with no scans or brain imagery I was sent home. Even when I questioned the doctor about their thinking, I was told I would be fine to return to work the very next day with no time off and working a 9-10 hour day. Really?

A month after my injury, I ended up back at the hospital feeling like I am dying and was told that I am now at serious risk of having a massive stroke. I was also sacked the week after the injury at work because I became grumpy and felt really unwell while being forced to do a 9-10 hour day when I felt like I was going to end up dying. My work refused to pay my blood test and the doctor failed to diagnose a serious concussion.

I feel betrayed from the hospital doctors who treated me - who after a month then tell me I am at risk of having a stroke, but I don't feel they care enough to give me a CT scan or brain imagery.

I was talking with words coming out back to front. I stopped driving for a month and a half because I couldn't focus, I didn't smile for over three months and I kept walking into walls and doors and I slept for months on end. I believe my concussion lasted over nine months and I am still living with the effects today. I am struggling to cope with no help and an employer that has refused to pay workers compensation because they can't physically see a brain injury because the hospital gave me no paperwork. Really?

I am broken-hearted and I have lost faith in not only doctors but humanity!

I want to change the way that doctors here in Perth and Australia diagnose head trauma because I believe that they are not trained well enough in the treatment of a head injury. 

Why was I left to possibly die on my own, when I could have had a massive stroke, when I could have had a brain haemorrhage and I could be at risk of having a degenerative brain disease or cancer in the future? How is it that Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital doctors who treated me did not think it important to place me in a support group or find someone to help me, when I couldn't leave my home and being isolated, struggled to find anyone to assist me?

I should have been placed in a support group to learn how to live with a brain injury and what is going on inside my head and the fact blood was coming out of my ears the very next day.

Or to even receive a CT scan or brain imagery when all they kept telling me was they don't recommend them because I may receive brain cancer from having a scan.

Please explain.

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Responses

Response from Janet Zagari, Executive Director, Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group 4 years ago
Janet Zagari
Executive Director,
Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group
Submitted on 16/08/2019 at 11:37 AM
Published on Care Opinion at 11:38 AM


picture of Janet Zagari

Dear yankeehs97,

Thank you for sharing your experience at our Emergency Department with us. I am concerned that you didn’t feel you received comprehensive and compassionate care from our team and that your symptoms worsened without treatment. I am sorry to hear of the toll that your injury has had on you on the months since.

We are a hospital that prides itself on kind, compassionate, high-quality care. Tests undertaken by our team should be based on medical need and you should have been advised to seek further medical attention if your symptoms worsened. For us to fully investigate your treatment and provide you with an explanation, I would ask that you please make contact with our Patient Liaison Service on (08) 6457 2867 or via email SCGHPatientLiaisonService@health.wa.gov.au. The Patient Liaison Service will also be able to provide guidance on support groups that might be suitable for you.

Kind regards,

Janet Zagari
Executive Director
Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group

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