Patient calls for more to be done at city’s ED

A SURF COAST grandfather has labelled Geelong Hospital’s emergency department “absolute pandemonium”, while calling on better conditions for staff and patients.

The man said he spent pent eight hours at the emergency department with a crushed T12 vertebrae on a Wednesday in late June and was bought to tears by the experience.

The Anglesea resident is now calling for local politicians to shadow overworked nurses to experience first-hand the struggles being faced by the public health system in the region.

“They need to put on the scrubs, and do a shift, if the nurse works eight hours, they do; if the nurse works 12 hours they do,” he said.

“They need to sit down when the nurse sits down, walk when the nurse walks and cry when the nurse cries – if they have any empathy.”

The man claims he waited more than six hours for an urgent CT scan, which he needed ahead of major spinal surgery.

“Pandemonium, it was absolute pandemonium. There were people in trolleys all over the place,” he said.

“I was flat on my back, but I could tell things were not going well… people were screaming and there were code greys.”

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said it was important for people to hear what was happening.

“It had to be said for people to hear. They [staff] were flat out,” he said.

According to a Barwon Health webpage, the emergency department treats more than 200 people on any given weekday, and more on weekends and during holiday periods, and warns that when extremely busy, wait times may exceed four hours.

Geelong MP Christine Couzens said the state government was committed to easing the pressure on health care workers.

“We know our hospitals are busier than ever which is why we’ve recruited and trained more than 6,200 healthcare workers since the launch of the $12 billion Pandemic Repair Plan last year,” she said.

“We’re also giving our hardworking nurses and doctors the facilities they need to deliver the best with work already under way on the new Barwon Women’s and Children’s Hospital and the new $20 million emergency department area for kids at the University Hospital Geelong.”

Ms Couzens said the state government’s Priority Primary Care Centres has also helped by creating an additional resource for patients who need urgent care, but not an emergency response.

“Priority Primary Care Centres have been established across Victoria, including here in Geelong on Roslyn Road Belmont.

“These important centres will help people in Geelong take pressure off our local EDs and give people another option to receive the best possible care

“These centres are already helping reduce pressure on our emergency departments.”