"Treatment in hospital"

Dear orangekp57,

My name is Mandy Pusmucans and I am the Director of Nursing at Sale Hospital.

Thank you for sharing your story, particularly at such a challenging personal time. We strive for consistently excellent care, and unfortunately, this has not been your or your partner's experience. I do sincerely apologise.

As a team we will reflect on your story. From what you have said, our communication was not as clear as it could have been, in relation to the pain medication. And also in terms of moving your partner from one room to another, and then to another ward. I understand the move to the Surgical Ward followed the contact your partner's family member made with the Hospital Coordinator. I am sorry that your partner felt as though they had done something wrong. This is not the message we should be implying.

If you feel able to talk further about this experience, I would really appreciate you contacting me on phone 5142 8512 or by email at mandy.pusmucans@cghs.com.au.

Kind regards,

Mandy

Dear orangekp57

Thank you for sharing your feedback. I am very sorry to hear about the care your partner received whilst an inpatient on the Medical Ward and the miscommunication following the ward move.

We on the Medical Ward make every effort to ensure our patients are provided with the best care and it is disappointing that this was not your partner's experience. Your feedback is appreciated and will help us improve for the future.

If you are comfortable in doing so, I would be interested in discussing your experience further. I can be contacted at lisa.watson@cghs.com.au or via phone on 5143 8710.

Kind Regards,

Lisa

Dear orangekp57,

My name is Rachel Strauss and I am the Director Community & Allied Health Services that includes our community palliative care team.

Thank you for sharing your feedback on the positive experience with our community palliative care team over the past 12 months. It is heartwarming to hear that the care the team have provided has been both respectful and professional.

The palliative care journey is never easy and I am sorry that your partner did not have the same experience whilst in hospital recently and hope you will follow this up with Mandy or Lisa as offered.

We do want to ensure that everyone's experience of accessing our services whether in hospital or in the community are of a high standard and to identify what can be improved to support this. I will certainly share your positive feedback with our palliative care team.

Regards,

Rachel

Dear orangekp57

Thank you for the opportunity to meet with you and your partner to discuss your concerns in more detail. You have highlighted some areas that we, as a team, have been working on improving over the last few months through our ‘Excellence of Nursing Care’ ward charter.

We will continue to work hard to ensure that our patients' needs are at the forefront of our care, such as prioritising the administration of analgesia.

As a team, we are working on developing a clear communication pathway for the future. If such issues arise again then I, as the Nurse Unit Manager, will be notified of the issues so that I can follow up with the patient and their family as soon as possible.

Your honest feedback will help us to improve, and you have given us many good ideas to utilise going forward. Already, we have included garbage bags at the bedside for staff and patients to use for belongings and dirty laundry.

We have a bedside checklist for checking equipment and have updated this, adding the checking of air mattresses to ensure that they are well maintained and monitored at all times.

Again, we apologise to you both that we let you down in the treatment we provided, and we thank you sincerely for taking the time to share your experience with us for our learning and improvement.

Sincerely

Lisa Watson

Nurse Unit Manager, Medical Ward