"Frazzled ED Staff"

We visited William Angliss Emergency Department recently and felt very let down. It was a Sunday evening so granted it was busy due to a number of sporting injuries (ours included! ). It took an extremely long time to see the Triage nurse due to a number of young children needing to be weighed and checked over and although there were 5 staff on/behind the counter the line that was building up very fast hardly moved.

We were told to have an X-Ray so we went down to the appropriate area (we were literally just told where to go, god forbid we had other intentions because no one was there to escort or oversee where we were going nor did we pass any medical staff making our way there who could have questioned us). There was a second family also waiting for X-Rays who had already rung the bell for assistance. We waited 10 minutes and no one had responded to the bell, so it was rung again. 10 further minutes and we saw a nurse and she smiled at us, however we were not acknowledged or attended to. 10 more minutes passed again and the bell was rung. We then had a lady come down to let us know that the beds were ready for us (both patients waiting for an X-Ray) and we explained no one had come to assist us. She said she would find out and then went off to find someone and we didn't see her again. All up, it was a 45 minute wait for the other patient and 60 minutes for us to be acknowledged.

Once we were in the cubicle we were seen quite quickly however we weren't really provided many answers - just told to get an MRI if it continues to hurt. The doctor had said to rest it for 24-48 hours and to keep off of it, further to a pressure bandage to stop the swelling. The nurse who came to do this had no idea what area she was measuring or what to do, she was referring to the ankle however the issue was with the knee and when this was voiced she couldn't confirm it. We were offered a letter for a doctor incase an MRI was needed, however not a medical certificate for the 24-48 hours despite being told to keep off of it.