First, I would like to acknowledge the wonderful help and support provided by Sean at the Emergency Department, Kiran the RMO from Bhutan (you are compassionate, efficient, effective and got my usually-hard-to-poke vein in one shot – considering how much pressure you were under due to being understaffed, I cannot thank you enough), Bree (thank you for the water, your compassion, genuine curiosity & your incredible capacity to want to learn new things) and Dana (for your time, efficiency, effectiveness and compassion even though you were completely swamped) at one of the Emergency Department Wards, Casey (oh honey thank you – you made me feel comfortable and seen and your warmth and friendliness are SO infectious – you literally made my day – or night – depending on what you want to categorize a 1 am CT scan as! Anyone who happens to be in your orbit is LUCKY. You have a kind and safe energy) and Peter (thank you for being clear, and kind and extremely efficient) at the CT Scan, Jasmine at the outpatient Ultrasound (thank you for being warm, patient, kind, efficient and welcoming. I’ve had this procedure done a few times and my experience with you was the safest I’ve felt) and doc Siddharth (thank you for being patient, answering ALL my questions, being clear and concise in your communication, for your kindness and generosity).
We checked in to the Emergency Department at Flinders at about 12:30pm and checked out at about 5:30am or 6am the next day.
I was crying and sobbing and had a contorted face and was doing a crab walk from the car into the Emergency Department, walking past the Ambulance Bay. I was not quiet by any means. Not one person in the ambulance bay said or did anything. Now, I understand that I was 50 feet from the emergency department, so I was almost there anyway, but the lack of basic human compassion was, to me, entirely shocking.
Once in the ED, I walked to the “reception” where I stood behind a couple where the gentleman was in a wheelchair and his partner (I’m assuming), was standing above them. I couldn’t tell if they were in the queue but the lady took one look at me and ushered me on and told me they weren’t in the queue.
Once I got to the glass panels, I just stood there sobbing. There was no one across on the other side. Then someone on the inside walked up and told me that I had to “press the bell” so that someone knew to show up. As if a blubbering human mess wasn’t enough! Anyway, rang the bell, someone showed up in 2-3 minutes if I’m not wrong, took my details, offered me Panadol, which I took and told me to go see the “clerks” round the corner.
The clerks gave me a file and asked me to be seated right next to their windows, so that someone could come and measure my temperature / blood pressure etc. Someone showed up within 4-5 minutes, if I’m not wrong, and I was offered Oxycodone within 10 minutes of entering the ED! They did ask me if I’d had Oxy previously and I told them that I had not and that I would certainly not like to start now.
Then the wait began. By this time, my partner had found a parking spot and joined me at the ED. We waited probably 4-5 hours before we were met by the RMO.
In those 4-5 hours, the couple I told you about at the start – the gentleman in the wheelchair – well he was crying and pleading for help and his partner was hugging him and he was just screaming in pain and DOZENS of nurses and paramedics simply walked past him without so much as a GLANCE in his direction. To us, it seemed that his leg was SEVERELY infected. It was inflamed to double it’s size and it was yellow. He was in an incredible amount of pain. I had made up my mind that if by any shocking chance I got called up before he was, I would tell the staff to get him first. Because what in the everlovingfuck kinda hospital does that?!
Eventually, one of the nurses was sent out and I could not believe my eyes when she bent down in front of him TO TOUCH HIS LEG! His partner was polite enough not to scream at her but how insensitive is that?! Perhaps she should have touched his leg and the leg would’ve kicked back. Who knows.
Then a slightly more senior looking lady came out and he was FINALLY wheeled in, one hopes, relieved of his pain and his infection. Holy shit. I couldn’t believe shit like this happens in a country like Australia.
Anyway. We were met by this wonderful RMO, who asked us questions, did a quick physical check, and was promptly called in to report to some place, so she left us halfway after a dozen apologies and said she’d be back. She got back after sometime, drew blood and asked me to give a urine sample at the ED and that she’d take it from there.
After a couple of hours, she came back, the blood work was clear, the urine was clear and she said she’d be back. I’m not sure after how long but she did come back and ushered us in for a super-quick chat with her consultant / specialist doctor, which was unexpected. The doc was great overall, except at one point, he poke my tummy with his hand and he warned me he’d poke it a bit hard and then he poked it hard but also un-poked it real hard and almost-what-seemed-like-full-of-glee asked me if it had hurt more on the poke or on the un-poke. It had hurt more on the un-poke and his reaction was similar to that of a teenage boy going “Aha! I thought as much!” He didn’t punch the air, which was a bit of a relief.
While leaving with the RMO running at his heels, he announced that I would be getting a CT and that the RMO should arrange a room for us and if the CT showed nothing, then an outpatient Ultrasound the next day. (There was more stuff but I’d rather not share share all personal details of the staff or those of my own self.)
We also heard that the nurses were on strike. Except the ICU and ED nurses, because they aren’t allowed to strike.
At some point around 10 pm perhaps, we were suddenly ushered into one of the ED Wards where they gave us a bed. Which was FANTASTIC because I wasn’t sure how long I could sit in those ED chairs. There had already been several times during the 10 hours that we’d already been there, that I had considered simply returning home. But then I’d already invested 10 hours and I had to find out what was causing the massive discomfort. So we stayed.
The absolutely wonderful Casey came in at 1am to wheel me in for the CT.
Now for some reason, it was not communicated to me that the Ultrasound was now going to be inpatient, not outpatient as the doctor had suggested and that I had been booked in for an 8 am Ultrasound already. The CT results were out and we weren’t informed of those either. So we just sat there till 5/5:30am, waiting form someone to tell us something, so that we could go home.
I was absolutely DONE by 5am, so I asked around and found out what the CT notes said and that I had been booked in for the 8 am ultrasound! Which is when I was done even more! After several attempts to communicate with the night doctor, someone actually, personally went looking for them and only THEN did they show up and said well yeah you can go home and you can rebook the ultrasound after you’ve had some sleep.
We had come to the hospital in a EMERGENCY. We were not prepared with food or drink or garments or phone charges or ANYTHING. I was literally in my bathroom slippers and we had just spent 18 hours with no idea what to expect and when.
The quality of medical care was good. The tests were done quick. The results were available quick. The place is modern. And Australia’s HealthCare, allows someone like me – a 491 visa immigrant, to access their facilities for FREE.
The lack of communication and the absolute lack of humanity have left me divided.
I am grateful for several aspects but I am also shocked at the absolute lack in others.
I can’t claim to know the lives of doctors and medical specialists and first responders and I imagine it is tougher than anything I can possibly imagine. I also know that the people making the decisions at the so-called “top” have even lesser of a clue than me.
Flinders called me on the phone the next morning, GIVING me an appointment for the ultrasound and asking me if the time slot they had was convenient for me. Again, pleasantly unexpected.
I spent another 5-6 hours. Waiting to get the ultrasound, then waiting to get the results, then waiting for a doctor to tell me what had been up. The doctor did their absolute BEST but I could tell that this wasn’t his first rodeo on how to tell a patient, politely, to kindly fuck off to the GP. Very kindly and politely and compassionately but fuck off nonetheless.
“That’s just how the system works here.” Is a sentence I have heard multiple times during my first ever Emergency or Hospital visit since I have been in Australia.
But hey, at least I got a discharge summary! Which said, “no obvious cause found for patient’s pain / discomfort”, right under the exact cause identified by them. If my eyes could roll out of my skull, they would’ve. I do not have access to my CT Scan. I do not have access to my Ultrasound either.
A little birdie also told me that if the hospital gave me a referral to a specialist, their referral would not be taken as seriously as compared to a referral given to me by my GP. Now I have zero experience with this stuff in Australia, so I have no idea what any of it means or if there are several meanings. But I guess I am soon going to find out.
Oh! And we paid $19. For parking.
Fin. For now.
