"ED and mental health for heart and anxiety"

Good evening,

Recently, I was seen in the ED for heart/ anxiety and other issues. I felt I was treated promptly, thoroughly, was listened too and I was taken seriously. I was also checked in on and offered food/ drink and I was asked if I was okay at regular intervals.

I also really appreciate the PLN (?) Who looked at my file before speaking with me so I didn't have to fully repeat my distressing Childhood SA story, I found this helped heaps.

I was also treated very well after I became ' snippy' at times due to anxiety/ exhaustion. For ' snipping' I do apologise! This was no one's fault but my own. I hope this apology is passed onto everyone who saw me in the ED.

Once I got to the mental health short stay ward this is where I found care became a mixed bag between good/ not so good. The nurse who did my intake was lovely and very patient with me, even though I was still ' snippy' and emotional. This nurse also checked in on me throughout the afternoon/ evening.

My first impression of some of the other nurses seemed a little 'off' as I felt they were very blunt with the patients/ seemingly almost telling them off and didn't communicate much with them. I do however acknowledge that the Nurses role is stressful and time consuming.

I was also asked about a new medication and when I clarified the name out loud I was told to 'shhh' as other patients were around. I'm not sure if this was done to protect my privacy as other patients were around or due to the stigma of this new medication I was prescribed.

The new medication I was advised will be continued after discharge and I was given a script to take to any pharmacy as they would have stock. I went to my regular pharmacy and I was advised that they did not have stock and that the script I was given was incomplete, two pages were needed...not just the one I was given.

Pharmacies were rung by the pharmacist ( to check stock) and while they had stock they advised they would not accept half a script. The pharmacist called Fiona Stanley who advised that a new script could not be sent out electronically/ via email and I'd need to come back to ED to be triaged again to get a proper correct script.

Becoming distressed I called ED who put me through to a Doctor who advised me that a Temp Doctor/ Junior (?) Doctor had done the script wrong and I was asked if I could come back to get a new script. Becoming even more distressed I advised that I could not come back as I'd just spent money on an Uber to get home and I had to be at work soon. I stated I needed this sorted ASAP as the new medication is an important medication and it needs to be taken daily.

I was also advised by the Doctor I wasn't given a supply of this new medication and my other medications due to it being the weekend/ pharmacy not dispensing medications over the weekend.

I do also apologise for being blunt, snippy and distressed with this Doctor. It wasn't their fault and they did a lot to help me. I hope this apology is passed on to this Doctor who helped me over the phone/ the Nurses in the mental health section.

The Doctor called another pharmacy near me and sent through an electronic/ email script which the other pharmacy was able to dispense.

I've sent this feedback ( with more details) to the feedback email address yet I haven't heard back, this was sent almost a week ago. Since discharge I've had two ' follow up' calls from the mental health ward who first called at 9:30pm/9:40pm on a weekday, when I advised I was falling asleep ( I had to be up early the next day) they tried to continue the conversation. I've since had the second follow up call at 7pm, this person briefly said their name along with some barely audible words before hanging up.

I called the helpdesk who put me through to the mental health ward, the mental health ward advised me that the after hours manager may have called me however they could not clarify why I was called after hours and what they were calling me for.

I do appreciate the follow up calls/ checking in on me however being called after hours, before bed and on a weekend evening does seem a little odd.

I hope to hear back regarding this feedback/ from my email and I hope this feedback helps.