Yesterday arvo I decided it was enough of the hobbling around with a wobbly ankle and decided to check into the newly refurbished Royal Hobart Emergency to get a scan.
I checked in around 4:30, the waiting area was almost full but I’m rather patient, maybe to patient. To patient because it took until 10pm to make it into the Clinic. That’s more than 5 hours. The waiting isn’t really what pissed me off most, it was the fact that many other people with hardly sever issues were getting through in far less waiting time than me. Another guy with the same injury came in at 9:30 and somehow got through to the clinic and out of the hospital well before I did. LIKE WHAT THE HELL NURSES!..
I think the trick is.. if you go back to the Triage and keep hassling them, they seem to put you through to the Clinic sooner. It seemed like the average time tolerance was about 1 to 2 hours for most people. After 5 hours or more I decided to try my luck lost my patients and confronted the Triage for an update on progress. What do you know 10 minutes later I was escorted into the Clinic. YIEW. Sat in Clinic for around another hour doing nothing before a nurse took me to have a Scan. Then sat for another hour before the Doc came around, who for some reason checked out all the people who came in after me and then realized a set of scans left over on the Clinic reception desk.
12:30 comes along, Doc comes over, tells me I have a few small chips of bone but mostly a sprained ankle, rest up for 6 weeks.
I seriously think there are some big problems going on at the RHH. Maybe it’s just personal communication problems, maybe its their stupid computer system, whatever it is the place is totally dysfunctional. No one seemed to have any idea of how long I had been in the hospital, when I told one of the Nurse I had been there since 4:30 she looked shocked. And I told her as if to say “HURRY THE F*&K UP AND STOP DAWDLING AROUND”,, but of course I’m way to polite to actually say that.
Next time I’m there I’m going to say something to get put through quicker.. I dunno what exactly, stepped on a needle or something, oh and sprained my ankle at the same time, what a coinsidence.
