"Armidale Hospital emergency department"

In March I had a miscarriage at 12 weeks which complicated three weeks later when I was admitted to the surgical ward with excessive bleeding and had to have the miscarriage concluded. The staff I saw those few days were fantastic, and told me that I should immediately return if I was in severe pain.

My complaint relates to how I was treated when a few days later I presented at ER again in excruciating pain, which for me was as painful as labour pain. I couldn't even walk unassisted, and although I saw there was literally no patients in the ER department waiting or being treated, I still was left in a cold overlit room for a very long time and then when the doctor came, he seemed to sneer at me . Then he had the audacity to ask me why I was crying, and when I told him I'd just had a miscarriage and was in a lot of pain, he told me I was overreacting and should have stayed home. I had to hobble outside and wait in the cold for my husband to come (he had to take our toddler to my parents).

Thankfully the next day my doctor was much more understanding and gave me antibiotics. While it wasn't a life threatening condition, I was only doing what I was told, and I do feel that I was treated appallingly and I would never go to the Armidale ER under any conditions. My doctor has given me their surgery's after hours number, so it won't matter, but I think some doctors need to learn to realise that a patient usually doesn't have medical training and they need to be treated with understanding, particularly if they've just been through something traumatic.