"Phones not working and poor communication from the Dr"

My parent is a current inpatient at Bright Hospital as part of Alpine Health. A couple of weeks ago, I tried to call the nurses station on multiple occasions to get an update of my parent's situation, as they were unable to relay to me what the medical plan was. My calls were usually attempted either around 8am or around 8pm. Each time, I selected the nurses station from the menu, and the phone would click and say there was no answer and transfer me back to the main menu. It was incredibly frustrating as my parent couldn't tell me what was happening, and I could not speak to any staff members. As I do not live in Bright, I didn't have any other way of speaking to healthcare providers. This issue persisted for a number of days, until I was able to find an opportunity to call during business hours and be directed to the nurses station via reception. 

I feel it is incredibly concerning that the staff had to endure this issue for that amount of time. Hospitals are emergency settings, and need access to phones to call appropriate medical staff, and families if conditions deteriorate. I find it unacceptable that this health service was left in this unsafe state for any length of time, let alone for up to a week. I believe it is a safety issue for both staff and patients and needs to be attended to as such, in a timely manner.

My parent has had input from a number of the local GP's, but is predominantly under the care of one doctor.

According to my parent, the doctor briefly saw them at the beginning of the week and mentioned referring them onto a specialist clinic in Melbourne. Unfortunately, there was not enough to time for the doctor to discuss this in further detail as my parent was about to depart for Wangaratta for a specialist scan. That night, my parent was tested and confirmed covid positive, and was placed in isolation. Over the next few days, my parent would ring me telling me that the doctor had not reviewed them, and they were still confused about the plan to refer them to Melb.

Unfortunately, my parent had misunderstood what the doctor had said, and thought they were about to be transferred as in inpatient to a major trauma hospital. I could not make sense of this plan, and my parent was becoming frustrated with the lack of information or discussions with them about the plan. I encouraged my parent to ask the nursing staff to tell the doctor that they wanted to speak with the doctor, which they did. 

Another day or two passed, and finally the doctor saw my parent. The doctor said to my parent the they hadn't seen my parent one day as they were asleep, and that they (the doctor) didn't review my parent the following day because they didn't want to have to gown up to enter the room!

I find this absolutely appalling that reviewing and communicating with a patient is seemingly seen as 'optional'. Leaving an elderly person in isolation without any further discussions to what the plan was or even asking how they were feeling is a poor level of care, in my opinion. If the doctor was concerned with being in proximity with my parent due to covid, I feel there are other ways to discuss their care with them. I believe the doctor could have simply spoken to my parent on the phone. It would have eliminated a lot of concerns that my parent had, and also cleared up the confusion over the transfer to Melbourne. 

I wholeheartedly understand the pressure of working in health care, and the frustrations and time constraints on health care workers. But I believe that communication with patients is not an area that can be compromised, and it does not reflect well on the Dr or the health service.