GPO Box X2213
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9224 2244
http://www.rph.wa.gov.au/
I was taken by an ambulance to the Emergency Department area of Royal Perth Hospital last year, and I spend most of the day there. So this review is about this department, not about other parts of the hospital.
My impression and experience of the hospital cannot be good, because I suffered in my flesh the deficiencies of the Western Australian Healthcare System, and that is never a good experience if you are sick.
The Emergencies Department is not only run down and needed of a refurbishment and general overhaul, but it is unable to attend properly the constant flood of people arriving at their doors. Since the volume of patients entering is constant and they are understaffed, they have to prioritise your case. Therefore, if you haven't had an accident, aren't bleeding or your life is not in danger, you will be the last person to be treated, examined and attended to, beyond basic painkillers, and electrocardiogram or x-rays if strictly necessary. That is terrible, as in, in my case, it took an hour an a half for a doctor (a student, actually) to come to me, out of human empathy, excused the abandonment and made an initial evaluation. He was eager to help, but he was just an intern - a student. The medication did not work. Finally, being busier with more urgent cases, they decided to take me out of the way and parked me, literally, in the Observation Room. By then, I was crying out of pain, feeling of abandonment, and completely pissed off.
In the short minute that took them to move me from one area to another, my files were lost. I found that shocking, so the initial evaluation made by the intern was unavailable. By the end of the day I was thinking that I would be better taken care off at home than in this hospital.
When a proper doctor arrived he told me about the missing file, was truly apologetic, did a very good examination, and treated me like a human being - finally! I was released that evening, without knowing the cause of my extreme pain (which turned to be a severe root nerve irritation that had left my nerve sort of "raw" and took me about six months to recover off), and bound to a private 400-dollar MRI because they would not do it there, even if needed. I sworn to the Universe that I wouldn't visit that hospital's emergencies if I can avoid it.
I am not blaming the doctors or nurses. They suffer from the lack of means, they are overworked, overstressed and, despite everything, do their job well and go beyond their limit to attend to as many people as they can, the best they can. Despite my state I was able to see them wanting to help even if they were not able to, running non stop all over the place. Still, this is not enough. Meanwhile our taxes (my taxes!) are dilapidated in who knows what, and public services of vital importance are neglected. What a shame. Whom your vote goes to and ends in the local government is to blame, Western Australians.
I advise everybody to avoid the PRH's ER as much as you can, unless you are so bad that cannot decide on your own. Otherwise, insist on being taken elsewhere. You will thank me. If you are taken there, take your mp3 player, really, as music was the only thing that kept me sane in an insane place. I turned the volume up when the space next to mine was occupied by a bleeding woman screaming, while an insane person was shouting and abusing somebody on that floor. You really need music, so you only deal with your own suffering. You don't want to have a heart attack in a hospital because of the hospital, right?
