Box Hill Hospital — Local services in Melbourne

The worst hospital for emergency! I had a fall and could not move. Went to box hill emergency at 12am where it took them almost an hour to administer any pain relief. When it was I was not told what it was or the possible side effects. I later found out I was administered panadeine forte x 2 tablets which caused dizziness, severe nausea, vomiting and sweats. I went pale as a ghost and the nurses response was “oh that’s the side effect from the codine” - I am pretty sure it’s in the best interest of the patient to be advised first. After waiting 3 hours I was taken in for an X-ray on my ankle. The dr made jokes about the radiologist and then disappeared - never to be seen again. The radiologist also didn’t give me any feedback as to what he could see. I was wheeled out on a wheel chair to the room outside the X-ray room and left there. A security guard came past about 30 mins later and asked what I was doing sitting there. I said I don’t know. I am waiting for the dr and the results. He wheeled me back to the waiting area where I waited another 2 hours. When I approached the triage nurse abt my nausea and dizziness again, her response was “I am just a nurse - I don’t know”...which shocked me!! I am pretty sure nurses are medically trained! I wasn’t asking her to diagnose me. I just wanted her to see if she could get me something to help manage the nausea. 2 hours later (about 5am) another dr appears and claims the X-ray wasn’t taken properly and I need to be bought back in. He claimed I needed a ct scan. I was eventually bought back in and it seemed like another X-ray (not ct scan) was taken. I was told it’s just a sprain but would be admitted to monitor progression. As I was taken to a bed in emergency - there was no bed in the room I was allotted. I waited for the bed and as it arrived the maintenance man said to nurse - here is the bed but I haven’t got time to clean it now & walked away. The nurse left me there but eventually came back and put a bandage on my ankle and said u can either go home or stay but there is no bed right now. She gave me a prescription for pain killers. I asked if the ones prescribed had codine and explained my side effects. She replied “ask the pharmacist to give you something for the nausea” - which of course they couldn’t without a prescription (which I only found out at the pharmacy after leaving the hospital). At that point in the hospital I thought this place is useless - I just want to get some sleep. I went home after wasting 6-7 hours in a hospital full of incompetent people. What shocked me was that when I went into the emergency bed area I saw the drs and some of the nurses standing around chatting. There weren’t that many people waiting for emergency treatment - but the least that should be done is treat them rather than make them wait for hours on end while they stand around chatting. It was disgusting to see health professionals being so unprofessional.

A week later I was still experiencing alot of pain, so I ended up going to consult with a dr at a medical clinic. He immediately requested a ct scan and within an hour was told that I had a severe fracture which required immediate action. Within 2 hours, I had seen a dr, gone to a radiologist - had a scan done, results went back to the dr and he sent me to a clinic to have a moon boot put on.

I would hate to imagine what Box hill hospital would be like if it was a life or death situation. I would probably be told by the triage nurse “I don’t know - I am just a nurse”.... If only I could give a...

If I could rate this place in the negative, I would do so in a heartbeat. On arrival with my sister who was reporting severe abdominal pain, the triage nurse did not move out from behind his little screen, did not conduct a thorough assessment, no vital signs done despite the fact that her fingers and feet were cold on a 32 degree night. My sister was left sitting in the ED for over 6 hours, with severe, acute abdominal pain which she described to 5 different RN's as being worse than the combined pain of having all three of her babies at the same time, yet nothing was done in response to this information. At one stage during the night, she was doubled over with pain, kneeling on the floor leaning over the chair in the waiting room and still, no one did anything useful. A nurse offered her some kind of oral pain relief which I advised my sister to decline, a) because she was vomiting, but more importantly because acute abdominal pain should not be treated with analgesia until a definitive diagnosis is made by a doctor and a treatment plan devised!!! The reason for this is that the medication masks the symptoms, which can lead to delayed and inaccurate diagnosis. There was a sign on the wall which stated that if your condition deteriorates, tell someone. We did tell multiple registered nurses that her pain was increasing and her condition deteriorating and still nothing was done. Despite my numerous protests and attempts to get her seen by a doctor, no one even came out to enquire about her condition. Instead, I was labelled as a problem relative; I know this because some woman in a uniform came out to tell me off. Rather than politely introduce herself and state her role within the organisation and show any concern for the welfare of my sister, she stood over us and proceeded to tell me that she did not appreciate the way I was treating her staff. I promptly replied that I did not appreciate the fact that my acutely unwell sister was being ignored and left waiting for an inexcusably extended time to receive medical treatment. When I asked her who she was, she stated that she was the nurse unit manager of the department. This should have been evident, however, she was not wearing her staff ID at the time. My sister was in extreme agony, vomiting and curled up on the floor, yet they did nothing. At one stage, I rang Cabrini ED to ask if I could take her there, however, I assessed my sister's condition to be too unstable by then to risk moving her. In hindsight, I should have taken that risk and removed her from the danger of the Box Hill ED. She did not see a doctor until around 5.45 am. despite arriving in the department at approximately 1100 pm the night before. Turns out Box Hill ED staff, that she had acute pancreatitis secondary to gall stones (not excessive alcohol use as implied by the extremely judgmental doctor who asked her three times about her alcohol use) that was left untreated for an inexcusably long period of time. FYI, for those who don't know, this condition can lead to serious complications, including kidney failure, infection and sepsis. She sought treatment elsewhere and had a good outcome; she survived in spite of them, not because of them. Never again will I take anyone I care about to this place. In fact, I wouldn't even take anyone I don't care about to...

Editing after some recent events. The worst hospital pathology. I've been in extreme pain to the point I have to have double dose of endone plus complete numbing spray to have pathology swabs taken. Getting the pathology results sent my new clinic was an extreme hassle. The results were there and I had to call numerous times to try to get them sent to my new GP. I had to get my old clinic to email them to me, so I could email them to my new GP/clinic. Such a waste of time. I then get the results and find that the people who did my swabs, whilst under endone and heavy spray analgesic, THEY HAVE USED THE WRONG SWABS FOR THE TESTS THEY WERE DOING. Is this some kind of joke or game? I've been in chronic pain for 5 years, as I explained, and this happens? How could someone taking swabs be so stupid? After I was screaming and crying hysterically? I have had to have them taken AGAIN whilst screaming. You have caused more trauma. I'll be making a formal complaint about this. It was a huge ordeal to get my results and now I've found out, the swabs were not even correct. This is absolutely not okay, I'm in so much pain and I'm struggling with everything.

I've been to this hospital twice now (just discharged today from being there 2 nights) and I'd like to share my experiences. I won't disclose my issues but I've been dealing with chronic pain for approximately 5 years now. I've seen specialists, many GPs and have gone to other hospitals and I'm really impressed and thankful for the nurses and doctors at Box Hill Hospital. I was very self conscious and anxious about my problems that needed attention and all nurses and doctors were very reassuring and maintained my dignity. Since having my issues, this is the first time they have been taken seriously and I haven't been sent away. The nurses and doctors had me stay, even though I didn't want to, to assist in finding out what is wrong with me and work out how to manage it/steps to take so I no longer have to live life like this. They showed concern and confusion as to why other healthcare professionals have not done something to help me sooner. A lot of other professionals have sent me away with either nothing or "bandaid" medications that haven't solved my problem. The issue has not been resolved yet but it is being worked towards. The fast track team, surgical ward team and gyno team have been amazing and deserve to be acknowledged for their care and professionalism towards patients. My short stay in surgical was the best care I've received. There were many other patients and myself and others were always attended to. The nurses would check on me frequently and kept on top on my pain and asking if I needed help with any other things: food, drinks, bedding, just making me comfortable. 10/10 would stay again, but hopefully I don't have to! I hope all the healthcare professionals who looked after me see this because I'm so thankful for their care and not just sending me home with some pain medications. You're all amazing at what you do and relieved a lot of my anxiety whilst I was there. I have left today feeling hopeful that I move forward in life with answers and appropriate management! Thank you for the kind, respectful and gentle treatment - I hope this year brings you all...