"Patient confidentiality"

I was recently unwell, dizzy, nauseous and nearly passing out. My husband took me to the ED in Bunbury and there I was triage straight away, ECG and bloods performed and then placed back in the waiting room as there were no beds in the actual ED Department. Staff were all wonderful, diligent and very friendly.

My complaint is about the process that seems to be occurring more and more now, whereby whilst I was in the waiting room with my husband a Dr came out and was performing a check on me to rule out any immediate issue such as a stroke and I was asked about my bowel habits in the middle of the waiting room with many people around. I responded to the question by saying "I don't really feel comfortable with answering that question surrounded by strangers that is confidential." The Dr responded I am just trying to assess you.

Also, when still waiting to be seen the same Dr came out to assess a young child who was there with their parent and was obviously there for Mental Health reasons ( I only know this because based on the questions the Dr was asking, such as are you having hallucinations, seeing things that aren't there, hearing voices, suicidal thoughts. This kid looked absolutely mortified that they were being asked these things in front of other people in the waiting room.

My question is that isn't that a breach of confidentiality for the patient ? It may cause this child who if is actually having thoughts of self harm in the future to not seek help because of this practice. Is there not a room that people can be taken to ask those sorts of private questions and then taken back to the waiting room.

I also made a complaint back in 2021/22 regarding when I was there in triage area with my infant daughter with a viral rash and there was about 6 people on the seats in triage and the triage nurse came out and was asking everyone what they were here for today and so was triaging them outside the room, in front of everyone. The staff do a great job in what I feel to be a s****y short staffed bed shortage environment but confidentiality is a right we have when it comes to our health and our bodies, and it should be upheld always.