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Care Opinion

Hospital resourcing

Posted By corridorww96

"Hospital resourcing"

About: Kalgoorlie Health Campus / Emergency Department

(as a friend),

A colleague of mine had a work accident earlier this year.  The day after the accident they had difficulty holding their head up and had to use their hand to keep it up.  They had many doctors and physio appointments but no one seemed to be addressing the issue.  The next month they were having difficulty eating and speaking.

A couple of weeks after they attended the emergency department but were sent home with the doctors saying there wasn't anything they could do for my colleague.  I don't know what they told the doctors so can't comment on why they were sent home. My colleague was declining rapidly.  We organised a police health check on them that day but all they did was ask if my colleague was OK and left. 

I went to their house to do a welfare check and took them back to the Emergency department.  They did tests, put my colleague on a drip and admitted them. The staff were unsuccessful in inserting a feeding tube. 

My colleague was flown to the Intensive Care Unit at Fiona Stanley last month where they inserted breathing and food tubes. A few weeks later they were deemed medically stable enough to be discharged and are staying with family in Perth so they can continue to receive infusions and health care. 

As I understand it, if my colleague returned to Kalgoorlie they would be readmitted to the hospital as there aren't the facilities to cater to their care.  Recovery time is unknown.  In my opinion, this would not have happened if the Kalgoorlie Health campus was sufficiently resourced.  I believe it is not.  I feel the hospital staff are constantly overworked and regularly abused.  There are not enough beds on the ward to admit patients to. 

We are a six hours drive away from the nearest major hospital and I believe Kalgoorlie deserves better as it's a high risk town consisting of mainly mine workers.  I don't blame the Kalgoorlie staff.  I blame the politics for downgrading the hospital to a health campus.  In my opinion, it won't be long before we are reading about a death that could have been prevented.

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Responses

Response from Peter Tredinnick, Executive Director, Regional Office, WACHS Goldfields 2 months ago
Peter Tredinnick
Executive Director, Regional Office,
WACHS Goldfields

Executive Director WACHS Goldfields

Submitted on 3/07/2024 at 9:38 AM
Published on Care Opinion at 9:38 AM

picture of Peter Tredinnick

Dear corridorww96

Thank you for raising your concerns and advocating on behalf of your colleague and community. It is important that we continually receive feedback and identify and implement strategies to improve our services.

As we are unable to discuss any confidential matters, I would encourage your colleague to contact the Kalgoorlie Hospital for any specific information or follow up required. This can be done by calling 9080 5817 or sending an email to GSEGCG@health.wa.gov.au. If needed our team can undertake a review of the care provided.

We acknowledge the importance of care closer to home for our country communities, and in recent years have been working to improve access with changes such as the installation of an MRI as well as accessing new speciality services through telehealth and visiting specialists too. I am sorry to hear that these have not been an option in your colleague’s current circumstances. However, we are continuing to advocate for resources and services for our country community, this is supported by the new Access to Care for Country Residents Policy.

I would also like to take this opportunity to let you know about an escalation process we have in place at the Kalgoorlie Health Campus that supports patients and their families and carers to call for assistance if they feel that their or their loved one’s healthcare concerns are not being addressed appropriately. This process is called Aishwarya’s CARE Call and it enables you to speak to a senior member of staff who will listen to your concerns and help you or your loved one. The Goldfields phone number is 1800 976 123.

I hope that your colleague is now on the road to recovery.


Kind regards

Peter Tredinnick
Executive Director
WACHS Goldfields

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