ANOTHER HEALTH COMMUNICATION FAILURE - ANOTHER PATIENT SUFFERS
Another communication failure at The Canberra Hospital has resulted in Melissa Menegazzo, who is suffering from a terminal brain cancer saying ACT Health is causing her undue stress, Shadow Health Minister Jeremy Hanson said today.
“Melissa’s case is yet another example of the systemic failures in communication with patients at TCH yet the Minister has done nothing to fix what appears to be a broken system,” Mr Hanson said.
“This is not an isolated incident. We saw the mishandling and miscommunication with family members of the ACT’s first swine flu fatality, we saw a terrible failure in communication when patients were exposed to TB, including the bill being mailed to a deceased infant, and we saw a failure in communication with cancer patients who were attempting to access radiotherapy.
“These are just the cases we know about but this latest incident indicates that there are flaws with communication procedures in ACT Health. I echo Melissa’s praise of the doctors and nurses at TCH but question what is going on in the management of the hospital.
“Katy Gallagher appears unable to fix the communication breakdowns that are occurring within her department and it is people like Mellissa who suffer as a result. Melissa and her partner are clearly frustrated with their treatment and have described the response to Melissa’s situation by the ACT Health as ‘unsatisfactory’.
“The Health system is supposed to ease suffering, not cause stress,” Mr Hanson concluded.
8 April 2010
