Jason

Review of Barwon Health

At approx 0800 hours on 26/03/19 I attended at the...

At approx 0800 hours on 26/03/19 I attended at the Geelong ED in immense pain mainly from a migraine headache from hell. I reported this to the triage nurse, also the fact that my blood pressure was over 180/120 and consistently so. There was also the possibility this related to a work place injury where last week I was assaulted and copped a knee to the ribs causing at least bruised ribs and a blow to the head. I reported this to the male nurse. The nurse displayed no empathy, no compassion and blew me off to the next window where the same level of service continued, merely ticking the boxes until I was told to wait in the waiting room. Now I am not sure if the person reading this has ever suffered from a migraine but I can tell you that the noise in the waiting room especially with the construction was going on was like torture. I approached after approx an hour of waiting the blonde haired nurse at triage, asking if there was somewhere quieter I could wait. She said no, nil compassion, nil empathy and like all the other staff at the ED window that morning blew me off. I also asked approx how long and was told I was next. I managed to wait another 45 minutes before it became to much, the pain unbearable and then approached the admin staff to inform them I was going. She wanted me to wait in line to speak to the triage nurse. I said no, I am leaving. I walked in severe pain to St John of God ED where I received prompt service, compassion, a great level of care and was through getting treatment within a very short time. I have had pleasant experiences at Geelong Hospital before but unfortunately some terrible ones too and yesterday was a disgrace. I am pretty sure none of those staff adhered to your organisations values yesterday. And just for the record I did not expect preferential treatment, merely a quieter place I could sit and wait. Knowing quite well the lay out of your ED there were plenty of places, but obviously too hard for the blonde female triage nurse.