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The response were of same denominator, lack of communication. Their was accountability address in lack of Paediatric specialist appointment's and last minute appointment at Perth Hospital by asking for an apology.

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The response were of same denominator, lack of communication. Their was accountability address in lack of Paediatric specialist appointment's and last minute appointment at Perth Hospital by asking for an apology.

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They have managed the said issues of complaint.

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I read one regarding a patient who accidently urinated on a dressing post surgery and the nurse refused to change it and left it for the next shift. The patient also has a severe allergy to onion and their meal contained onions and they had a seizure.

The response to this complaint I found to be very complete for a first response. They responding hospital representative was apologetic and sincere and they provided all their contact information in order to investigate further. They also emphasized that they appreciate the feedback as it helps them to identify areas of care in which to improve and this was the only response that I read that stated this

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This response stood out for me as an example of a the type of response I would expect if I made a complaint and one that for me responded to the complainant concerns and genuine fear.
The response started with an apology and recognition of the anxiety and stress the complainant felt.
The respondent provided factual account of the challenges, then followed with the organisations plan for what is being done to overcome those challenges and reduce stress and anxiety for women in the same position in the future. The respondent also offered the complainant an opportunity for further learning from the patients experience.
The response felt genuine, respectful, compassionate and was solution focused.
Leanne Pike

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I was nearly 7 weeks pregnant, and after a miscarriage in late last year, and experiencing the same symptoms recently, I reported straight to ED at the Broome Hospital (as I recall I was advised to do last time by my GP).

I recall after waiting 2 hours in the waiting room, I was finally taken through. The doctor got the ultrasound machine and I believe said this wasn't their area of expertise, but they would try and see what they could see.

Basically the only information I had, was that 'the sac' was in the uterus, and appeared to be in the correct place - so ruled out an ectopic pregnancy. As I understand it, I'd have to come back in a couple of days to see if the baby is alive when there is someone in radiography.

I felt pretty stressed out, and furious, that as I understand I, there was not a single person in the hospital that day that could give me a scan to indicate anything further than 'it's in the right spot'. I asked if I could be placed on the waiting list over the weekend in case radiology were called in for other urgent matters, I believe the answer was no, not all their radiologists do ultrasounds, if I don't hear from anyone, give radiology a call.

Late last year, when I presented with the same symptoms, I recall I waited over 4 hours in the ED waiting room, but at least when I got through the doctor scanned me (in ED) and was able to tell me straight away there was no heartbeat and the foetus they could see was measuring about 8 weeks when I should have been 11 weeks at that point. I was then sent off to radiology to have this result confirmed.

It seemed to me there was not a single person in that hospital trained enough who could give me an ultrasound on a weekend. I just don't think 'come back later' was a good enough answer. And if that was always going to be the answer, perhaps a staff member could have given me that information when I first presented and saved me wasting my time, in my opinion.

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I was nearly 7 weeks pregnant, and after a miscarriage in late last year, and experiencing the same symptoms recently, I reported straight to ED at the Broome Hospital (as I recall I was advised to do last time by my GP). I recall after waiting 2 hours in the waiting room, I was finally taken through.

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"Access to WA Regional COVID19 Clinics"
Although this response directly responds to the concern and offers the solution that has been created based on their complaint- it fails to acknowledge the experience of the client and denies the client of any sort of apology, taking away from the efforts to correct the previous limitation in access to care

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I've just registered to have my COVID19 vaccine recently via a WA Wheatbelt clinic. I feel there is a real issue with the Vaccine Clinic Finder site. If you live in regions of WA and not close to a major regional centre, Kalgoorlie, Albany or Geraldton, you are unable to book an appointment on the site. I live within 1.5 hours from the metro area and the site has referred me to Metro clinics. My partner works within the health system and I'm aware WA Country Health Service (WACHS) is running COVID19 clinics throughout the regions, however, at present I believe there is no way regional residents over 50 can register or book one of these regional clinics via Vaccine Clinic Finder and there is no contact number for these regional clinics listed on the Vaccine Clinic Finder site or WACHS.

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I've just registered to have my COVID19 vaccine recently via a WA Wheatbelt clinic. I feel there is a real issue with the Vaccine Clinic Finder site. If you live in regions of WA and not close to a major regional centre, Kalgoorlie, Albany or Geraldton, you are unable to book an appointment on the site.

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https://www.careopinion.org.au/85086
The directors/managers responded to the complaints. However, the good complaints have been responded to more than the bad complaints. These responses expressed that the directors/managers are willing to listen to patients’ stories of what happened.
There is a complaint about Covid check-in in ED. The director explained why they were doing the current procedure, which made the patient feel unsafe. However, I think it might be better if she/ he could tell more details to convince the patient. The excellent point is that she/ he also mentioned the improvement in future. I think that is what the patient wants to hear.

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My child had a systemic allergic reaction and we went to the PCH due to family history of anaphylaxis. Perth recorded 24 cases of COVID recently and yet on entry to the ED I was not asked by triage if I had or my child had tested positive to covid or are a close contact or have been to an exposure site, or am I or my child experiencing any symptoms- nothing covid related at all. I passed a sign as I rushed through the front doors with my child but I could not tell you anything about it as my main focus was to get them to safety.

I am a little taken back that it seemed to me they don't ask any covid questions. My local GP clinic asks the covid question on the phone when making an appointment. Do they expect everyone on arrival to announce such things, because sadly I believe relying on individuals to do so could potentially lead to another instance of exposure to vulnerable people in hospital.

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My child had a systemic allergic reaction and we went to the PCH due to family history of anaphylaxis. Perth recorded 24 cases of COVID recently and yet on entry to the ED I was not asked by triage if I had or my child had tested positive to covid or are a close contact or have been to an exposure site, or am I or my child experiencing any symptoms- nothing covid related at all.

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I believe the response to this complaint was ineffectual in addressing the needs of the complainant. Instead of quoting what the facility should be doing in a business like manner (ticking boxes), understanding that the person was looking for updates in communication so that they could feel confident they had not been forgotten and treatment would be provided asap, it wasn't so much about the time waiting but the lack of communication which seemed to have completely been missed!

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Appendicitis and long wait time
Appropriate response - a little bit repetitive as it repeated the same observations the patient had concluded. However, it did ask for the patient to contact the hospital for further investigation and to provide feedback.

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I presented to an Urgent Care centre with acute abdominal pain that had manifested on the evening a couple days ago. Following excellent timely assessment by the staff there, they transferred me to Joondalup Health Campus ED, via ambulance, with the diagnosis of appendicitis.

I was given Penthrox (green whistle) for the ambulance ride as my pain score was 10 out of 10 which helped immensely. I had the shakes from the pain and positive for rovsing. On route to ED the Paramedic explained to me the meaning of ramping and in my case that might occur.

I arrived at JHC ED just before midday, ambulance entrance, and waited for approximately 15 minutes (which I feel is appropriate) before being reviewed by a nurse, who as I understand it decided that I did not need the green whistle, I did not need to stay on the ambulance trolley, I did not have appendicitis, and could go and wait in the waiting room along with everybody else. I repeated that I was transferred with appenditicis to which I believe the nurse said I look too well for that, it's more than likely gastro.

The nurse walked me into the waiting room, asked me to pee in a cup (would be tested straight away) and take my turn, I recall advising me along the way that there was a 4 1/2 hour wait! I went to the bathroom and peed in the cup, vomited and nearly fainted as well. I returned to the triage nursing window and said what had just happened, repeating that I had presented with appendicitis and was advised to take a seat in the green chairs and a nurse would come and see me. I was given ondansetron and told to sit in a pink chair as more comfortable and told to put my feet up on a chair. My spouse was advised that they could not stay with me as ED waiting area was full.

During my time in ED waiting room, I went to the nurses triage window twice and repeated the reason for my presentation, and that my pain was escalating, nausea getting worse and shaking. The waiting room nurses reviewed me and gave me oxycodone twice for the pain. At the time of my last dose of oxycodone, I was informed by the nurse that a doctor might come and review me in ED waiting area, take some bloods from me and start a drip, but no one appeared.

My spouse when they returned after midday with my phone, I believe was told they were not allowed in as the premier had changed the rules to no visitors, we later found out this was not true. So I was alone in the waiting room with no advocate. I was finally taken through to ED about 5 hours 20 minutes after my admission to JHC ED.

Whilst I appreciate how busy ED can be, and was on this particular day, my main complaint is that I believe I was misdiagnosed right from the beginning when I presented in the ambulance, by the nurse who saw me on the ambulance trolley. It seemed to me they overruled the admitting doctors diagnosis from Urgent Care, and I feel this led to me remaining in ED waiting area for so many hours.

During the hours I waited in ED, I believe other people with less life-threatening presentations were seen before me, so therefore the triage system was clearly not working, in my opinion. The reason I know this as there is no privacy in the waiting room so you can hear everyone's presentations.

On my admission paperwork to JHC ED, I recall it clearly states abdominal pain and nothing else. As I understand it, my urine sample was still in my file waiting to be tested when I was seen by the ED Doctor 5 and 1/2 hrs later, so I believe had not been tested at all. I believe the ED doctor was shocked I had waited so long to be seen, with what they diagnosed straight away, just by feeling my abdomen, as appendicitis.

On CT scan at later that night, I was formally diagnosed with appendicitis, localised perforation, early abscess and free fluid in abdomen. I was then reviewed by surgical team and scheduled for emergency surgery that night. I was on IV Tazocin for 48hrs, due the extent of the infection caused by my perforated appendix.

During my admission in A1, I was provided with exceptional care, by all members of the muitidiciplinary team who I dealt with, in particular nurse Erica and Nurse Shinae. As a result of sharing my experience with you, I feel some changes to the triage system may need to occur so that in future no one else has to experience what I experienced in your ED. Thank you for taking time to read this feedback.

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I presented to an Urgent Care centre with acute abdominal pain that had manifested on the evening a couple days ago. Following excellent timely assessment by the staff there, they transferred me to Joondalup Health Campus ED, via ambulance, with the diagnosis of appendicitis.

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Lack of communication throughout the hospital 

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Lack of communication throughout the hospital 

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https://www.careopinion.org.au/81736
I really like how Lisa ( the respondent) started with an thanking the patient for giving the feedback, then apologising giving reason and recommendations for changes and then followed up with stating if she had any further issues to contact her directly.
the patient responded very briefly with "i appreciate you support" which means she felt heard and respected.

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My baby was diagnosed with Hips dysplasia at 8wks. The visiting Paed wanted to refer us to Perth but I asked to have the follow up ultrasound done in karratha where we were. At 11wks we had another ultrasound and same diagnosis. The next paed appointment was with a different Dr and they too wanted to send us to Perth. I was advised to wait for the Perth hospital to contact me.

I was under the impression that we had an orthopaedic Dr that visits our hospital. So why wasn't I being referred to them or to the physio at the hospital who, I believe, can fit the harness.

At 16wks I went to my local gp who was, I believe, shocked by the run around and referred me to the visiting orthopaedic Dr. Over the phone the Dr looked at my baby's ultrasound and said they needed to be in a harness ASAP and referred me to the physio at the hospital who a few days later fitted my baby with a harness.

Hips dysplasia are in my family, I knew what needed to be done but I believe the lack of communication to the visiting Paed delayed our treatment.

I felt, the permanent Paed that we had knew the system and, I believe, would have fitted my baby at 8wks. But now we have a random Dr that, I feel, does not know what the hospital has to offer.

To make matters, I feel, more ridiculous, I received a message at the time of writing this story from a hospital in Perth saying that we had an appointment that day for an ultrasound. An appointment I could not make as we are about a 16hrs drive away. There was no notice given. Imagine if I wasn't proactive in getting this sorted then received that message.

I understand hips dysplasia is very common and for people living in the Pilbara going to Perth for treatment that can be treated here is, I believe, absolutely absurd.

I felt the physio was amazing in giving me the right advice and who to contact to get the ball rolling.

Thank you.

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Lack of communication throughout the hospital

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My baby was diagnosed with Hips dysplasia at 8wks. The visiting Paed wanted to refer us to Perth but I asked to have the follow up ultrasound done in karratha where we were. At 11wks we had another ultrasound and same diagnosis.

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https://www.careopinion.org.au/84946

I really liked how this response was handled. I felt like the manager replying had heard what and why this person had written their complaint and had used phrases that showed empathy and care without implicating the service or staff.

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A few weeks ago, a driver had a medical episode while driving, arrested and crash into myself head on travelling about 80km/hr.

On the next day, I had surgery to fix 2 broken bones in my arm and had metal plates inserted as well. I was discharged from hospital a few days later, in the afternoon. When the doctor came to see me I asked for a medical Cert as I work fifo and eventually need to be cleared to fly. I recalled they said no worries, they will sort that and my discharge papers. An hour and a half later a nurse came back with discharge papers and no med cert, when I asked for it the nurse said the doctor should have done it but now they have rushed to lunch, and got another doctor to sign a medical cert for me. 2 days later after getting home, I reread my discharge papers and it states my age and gender as well as the sentence "admitted post MVA, car vs tree 60km/hr".

As you can see from my story, this story is completely fabricated. I will also state that my age as stated on the certificate was incorrect by 4 years.

As to why there was such little care taken while writing my discharge papers which I believe are also legal documents.

I called to have this fixed asap and they said it can take up to 30 days to fix this.

For insurance purposes, legal documents and court purposes, I believe all these documents should be correct.

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A few weeks ago, a driver had a medical episode while driving, arrested and crash into myself head on travelling about 80km/hr. On the next day, I had surgery to fix 2 broken bones in my arm and had metal plates inserted as well. I was discharged from hospital a few days later, in the afternoon.

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The operations manager ticked the boxes of what makes a decent complaints response letter. He replied promptly, acknowledge the man's concerns, gave an explanation as to why the problem occurred, presented a resolution and a phone number to contact if he had more questions.

However, this letter is lacking because the operations manager did not provide an apology to the patient, the response was not empathetic, the resolution only addressed one of the many lapses of care he complained about and seems insincere.

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It caught my attention on delayed in urology referral with miscommunication. St. John God maid land director of Nursing wrote a letter reassuring patient for progressing his urology appointment   as urgent. However the response seems only to console him. The action is taking place only for him from the letter's prospective. He address it so he will be possible getting urgent appointment but is seems lacking on the safety improvement systems to avoid such incidents to others patients. I guess could have been address about improvement communication medium, education systems, patient centered care and   consulting with consumers about discharge plan well prior to discharge.
Khima Pun

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I thought this was a reasonable response to the concern raised;  however,  it should have started with an unreserved apology. The response demonstrated empathy but didn't clearly justify why pain relief couldn't be offered before the questions were answered. I thought it was a very strong ending - providing her name, role and contact details and an invitation to follow up on the healing process.
Bec

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Dog bite and I felt the nurse took 100 years to get me pain relief and call a doctor. It seemed to me they were asking irrelevant questions and stuffing around with paperwork but I felt they didn't even help me or attend to my problems at all until I asked over and over.

I needed pain relief! I couldn't even talk to answer their questions I felt sick and light headed.....I recall the nurse even asked if it was the teeth that went in to cause the dog bite....inexperienced and poor care and needs way more training, in my opinion. What a joke it seemed to me, based on this experience I won't go there if I'm dying, I'll go to another hospital.

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Dog bite and I felt the nurse took 100 years to get me pain relief and call a doctor. It seemed to me they were asking irrelevant questions and stuffing around with paperwork but I felt they didn't even help me or attend to my problems at all until I asked over and over.

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I selected this response as I believe it is a very poor example of how to effectively respond to a complaint. It is clearly a 'cut and paste' response with no meaningful content. The issues raised in the patient story are all too common (poor communication, extended and unnecessary fasting).

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I was brought to ED by ambulance with a leg wound from a road accident. Initially I was sent for X-rays and put on a fast (no food or drink). I recall I was told that I would need surgery hence the reason to fast. I believe this was all within the first two hours of my admission. I remember for the…

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I like the way the manager acknowledged that there were issues. Stating "While I know that this does not change your experience, I would like to assure you that we are trying to make improvements" felt genuine.

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At the time of writing this, my elderly spouse had been in Charles Gairdner hospital for over a month after major cancer surgery and was still there. Family visits are very important for their mental health as they become quite depressed. Since the COVID restrictions for visitors which have been put in place, I was told no children under 12 yet have seen toddlers on 2 occasions and my spouse has heard them on the ward.

2 visitors per patient and yet I have seen 4 family members in 1 room.

What rules? I believe the hospital staff that checked me in before I can see my loved one can't get their facts right. When I have questioned them on several occasions, I felt they come up with vague answers. I recall they just keep saying no children under 12.

My child tried to visit my spouse with a baby and a toddler, having to travel far and on a very hot day and was turned away. This upset them and my spouse for they were unable to see their grandchildren. Yet after this incident, I saw very young children in the hospital. I question what would happen to my spouse, a high-risk patient, if they got by Covid because visitors are not checked properly. I visited regularly so I know how casual some of the check-in staff seem to be. I believe visitors could lie when entering the hospital. In my opinion, we should show proof of vaccination at least and get our temperature checked.

This has been a very distressing time for me and my children as my spouse had been in hospital so long, over Christmas, and there is no end in sight. My spouse desperately wants to come home but after major cancer surgery for the third time, they still have a long recovery time ahead of them.

Also, not previously mentioned, my spouse had several appointments they had to attend before their surgery, while they were in a lot of pain, at the hospital, where I remember their appointments ran very late and were doubled up. We had to go to the hospital on 3 separate occasions.

The first appointment was to see the surgeon which I recall was over 2 hours late which they apologised for.

The second appointment, on a different day, we had with the anaesthetist which we waited about 30 minutes.

Then afterwards, we saw the appointment's nurse after another wait. During this time, it seemed to me other patients in the waiting room (for the morning appointments) had been and gone. Around 2 hours later, I believe as the afternoon patients arrived (and my spouse now in a lot of discomfort), we were called in to see our third appointment with a junior doctor that I felt basically repeated everything the admission nurse told us.

Then after being at the hospital for over 3 hours we get a phone call, while driving home, from the stoma nurse asking where we were and why we had not turned up for another appointment. We told the nurse that we were not told about seeing them. Because of this, we had to make another appointment to go back to see them. This was our third time back to the hospital.

So it seems to me, communication is a big problem. It was hard for my spouse having to wait for appointments going over several hours. Also again, lack of communication with the appointments was also an issue. I am under the impression the hospital is understaffed and they are under a lot of pressure, in my opinion.

I wish to state that my spouse's care was of a high standard, however, communication seems to be an issue in the hospital.

Regards, velans59

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At the time of writing this, my elderly spouse had been in Charles Gairdner hospital for over a month after major cancer surgery and was still there. Family visits are very important for their mental health as they become quite depressed.

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https://www.careopinion.org.au/81761

I found the response from the operations manager to be insightful, empathetic, and appropriate. The manager acknowledged the concerns of the patient and empathised with the situation in which they had ended up. The manager went so far as to explain that the hospital is undertaking redevelopments to improve their surgical capacity long-term, and though that doesn't help a patient in the moment, it does show that the hospital has recognised the need for improvements to their infrastructure and processes and that this kind of issue will hopefully be eliminated or reduced in light of these developments. I believe this instills confidence in the patients in the area, to know the hospital is taking these steps to better serve the community as a whole.

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I completely tore my achilles a few weeks ago, thought I wouldn't bother with emergency, because every other time I have gone there they have sent me to a dr to get a referral for an MRI, so thought we would skip a step.

Went to the DRs, it was all the symptoms for a ruptured achilles, she wrote urgent on the referral for an MRI. When I called, they said they could get me in, in 3 weeks, is that okay? I said no, it's my achilles, I can't walk. Said they couldn't do anything about it. Ended up going to another town to get the MRI the next day. Found out the day after I had a complete rupture of the achilles tendon. Dr again wrote urgent on the referral and sent it to a specialist, specialist was on leave. So they sent the referral to the outpatient clinic recently one morning. I called to make an appointment, said they couldn't get me in until after the weekend. My parent managed to get me in the next day before the weekend. Once there I was told I would need surgery, to fast from 12am that night and come in the next day for surgery. Once there, sat for an hour, admissions then said there were no beds, waited another hr, for them to come back and say it won't happen that day, go home, they'll try get me in the next day. Didn't hear from them until the following night after that, telling me to fast again from 12am, would call me the next morning to update me of when to come in. Didn't hear anything until mid-afternoon, saying I wouldn't be going in for surgery. They then said, we'll get you to fast from 6am the next day and come into the day procedure unit at mid-morning.

Sat in admissions for 3 hours before they got me in a bed, had completed all the forms, they came to me later in the afternoon to tell me the surgery wouldn't be happening and to go home. Hopefully, we can get it done on Friday or over the weekend. I was not given any other details. I have been told it is vital to get an achilles surgery done within the first 48hrs ideally, no later than 10 days as it causes complications.

I feel like I'm not considered important enough, I'm a physical education and outdoor education teacher which requires a lot of practical work, this is my life. If my achilles causes me issues I can not do my job. I have already had so many disruptions to work in the past two weeks due to appointments and been in there ready for surgery and not been able to get surgery.

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I completely tore my achilles a few weeks ago, thought I wouldn't bother with emergency, because every other time I have gone there they have sent me to a dr to get a referral for an MRI, so thought we would skip a step.

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In common:
- The responses all acknowledged the feedback regardless of type.
- Thanked author for feedback and shared experienced

Lack of Communication
In this response, the author apologised for the miscommunication, lack of Paediatric specialists appointments and the last minute appointment at Perth hospital.

They continued to explained that their complaint had been escalated and investigated to the teams involved and what the outcomes are.

They also offered to follow up on appointments with Perth Hospital and to talk further with a contact name and details.

It is concise, and address the issues raised, what has been done, and the offer of help for future appointments.

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I feel the Executive Director, Women, Youth and Children, Canberra Health Services' reaction to the patient was reasonable. However, having provided a less general contact phone number or email address than the Consumer Feedback Team would have reassured the patient that the Executive Director was genuinely interested in investigating the complaint and taking action to prevent it from happening again.

Maria A.

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I felt the response to this was appropriate and took into account all of the elements the patient expressed in her post. She had a positive experience with radiology and negative with her specialist. The person responding acknowledged the positive and tasked specific departments and people in the rectification. I felt this showed accountability and genuine steps to rectify an experience - as the patient highlighted - that will become more common

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Miscarriage.
The response to this complaint is handled really well. Firstly, the respondent was empathetic and admitted responsibility for the error. He then provided a means for the patient to have their issue investigated, and managed the potential for a further complaint by explaining that when they called the number he provided to investigate the matter that they might need to leave a number for a call back.