Patient Experience Week Feedback

For Patient Experience Week from 29 April to 3 May, Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group are highlighting feedback from patients and their loved ones to show how it is the little things that can make all the difference.

Patient Experience Week is an opportunity to celebrate the people who have positive impact on the patient experience.

A family member of a patient recently shared a heartfelt message to all the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital staff who recently provided care for their father.

Thank you for the fantastic care for my dad

My dad liked things done his way, he liked to make people laugh, he loved being a father and adored his grandkids.

We all knew dad was very unwell, we’d watched him struggle with his health for months.

One day his health rapidly deteriorated and he was taken to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital’s Emergency Department by ambulance.

I walked many cubicles with the curtains drawn and heard him joking and laughing with nurse Olivia who was trying to take vitals and raise his blood pressure as it was dangerously low.

Nurse Olivia was upbeat, professional and worked her way through the many tasks that needed addressing.

I sat watching the busy nucleus of the ED. Paramedics, doctors, nurses hustling and working together to care for patients and informing concerned relatives of the latest medical developments.

I was in awe of this high stress, fast-moving but calm workplace. Everyone had a role and was performing it with precision.

Emergency doctor Dave called me out of Dad’s cubicle to inform me the treatment they had planned for Dad and how they were going to improve the health of my 87-year-old father.

I listened and knew instantly this is not what he wanted. Simple tasks like getting in an out of the car had become painstakingly difficult.

Doctor Dave’s one line that will stay with me forever was ‘Let’s talk to your dad together’.

He was compassionate, gentle and kind.

Together we walked on either side of my dad’s bed.

Dad was sitting up at this stage with a warm smile on his face and a twinkle back in his eye.

Dr Dave spoke with dad as I watched from the other side of the bed, my hand on his shoulder.

Dad told Dr Dave he’d had a wonderful life and he was so proud of his three children and five grandchildren, but it was time.

There was a wave of great relief from this man I’d always looked up to. A man I used to wrap my entire hand around his little finger, and he would guide me through crowds.

The roles were now reversed.

Palliative care doctor Nick pulled up a chair next to dad. Again, dad told this stranger how proud he was of his children and their children.

There was no mention of career journey, the money he made, or the suburb we lived in.

He was concerned about his wife of 58 years who would soon be on her own. His children who would be sad and his grandchildren who would never get a Pop Special (ice cream, syrup, ice cream syrup with a long spoon) again made by him.

But he was happy. He’d had 87 years of a life well lived.

I went home to get mum that afternoon and returned that evening, but things were never the same again.

Nurses in C17 made Dad comfortable. Amy and Andrea thank you.

A day later my beautiful Dad had gone. Replaced by memories of an infectious laugh, strength and a drive that improved our family’s opportunities.

In those last few days of my Dad’s beautiful life, he relied on strangers for comfort and peace, and he received it.

I realised as a bystander in this story, healthcare professionals are special.

They possess empathy and a good heart we all desire.

The hug from nurse Andrea after dad passed was just what I needed.

They care. Every day. What a wonderful gift.

I admire the commitment, the heart and soul they share.

You are all amazing and we are so very grateful.

Thank you for care and compassion my dad received in April 2024. We are just one of many.

To the staff at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, you are extraordinary.