Barwon Health - Geelong, Victoria

Sharene Turner

I went to ED with appendicitis. I am giving five stars for the wonderful nursing care I received. The nursing staff, porters etc were just so lovely that the whole experience was positive. I was also glad the food was super healthy (which would have helped my recovery).
Thanks lastly to the surgeon and medical experts who saved my life.

George Herman

Arriving very late on a Saturday night to the emergency reception and seeing 40- 50 people sitting in the waiting area was of concern whether I'd be able to receive attention to my needs sooner rather than waiting all night possibly until Sunday morning.
In fact, I was attended to quickly, efficiently and politely by friendly staff.....and obtained the attention I was seeking.
I do understand that everybody's needs can be personally "urgent", ( that's usually why they're there in the first place), however no hospital could be set up in such a way where a huge number of sufficient admin staff and medical personnel are ready and waiting 24/7.....
There are, and always will be times when patients needing urgent care & attention arrive in overwhelming numbers which the Triage Nurse firstly has to assess & prioritize....
In some ways it's the luck of the draw as to when you arrive and for what reason, and how many life threatening cases there are at that same point in time.
I don't have any complaints about Barwon Hospital, just to say that I only experienced the best of care & attention possible by what to me were very efficient and hard working, caring, & polite admin & medical staff.
Thank you Barwon Hospital.

Niran Aaric

Appreciation is NOT just enough for the paramedics, doctors, nurses and surgeons working in Geelong hospital and in general ❤️❤️

Had a terrible accident personally and was able to go through ambulance, emergency department, surgery and outpatient department within a week time.

1) Paramedics were really swift to reach Torquay in 5-10min and they were quick to arrest the blood loss. Was not expecting this fast and quick care, since the hospital is a minimum 25min drive from Torquay.

2) Emergency dept really had a long waiting time. Had to wait atleast for 7 hrs before the doc attended me, even though I was in the fastrack waiting bay. I am sure no one likes waiting, but I was expecting this after reading all the comments. Doctors and Nurses were really good and knowledgeable. They are definitely understaffed and this has to be taken care by the government/management to bring in more government doctors to ED.

3) Surgery was the next day and was with the plastic surgery team. I was told to come at 10:30 AM, but I was attended at 4:30 PM. Initially I felt understaffed problem, but that was not the case. They had a prioritisation among the patients list. Young kids and older people were taken first and then came the mid age group. I am going to appreciate this priority concept, since I know how a kid feels to wait and they obviously can’t be fasting for a long time ? … Even I was not aware before this day, that fasting is mandatory before getting into surgery ?After entering the operation theatre realised that there are around 15 operation rooms filled with surgeons and they were completing operations with utmost care and quick… I was not even able to thank the doctor and surgeons since they left to next room after completing my surgery to do the next one ? Salute to the dedication and I admire how they do this without a small break ..

4) Outpatient was promptly done. Had a hour of waiting time, but I don’t think that’s a problem since the number of patients was actually higher that day in the OP.

I do accept the hospital is understaffed with doctors and no one likes waiting. Either government/management has to step in to increase the doctors (or) as citizens living in this country we have to raise our kids to become doctors & surgeons ?

hoeseokians

Me and my mother were in a freak car accident yesterday and arrived to the hospital via ambulance at around 4:30. They didn’t have any beds available in the emergency room so we sat out in the waiting room for nearly five hours till we got seen. My mother had hit her ribs on the steering wheel and was in so much pain she could barely stand yet we were treated like patients with just a cough.
Hospitals are extremely scary for me as I am autistic and have had trauma from a previous incident, some of the staff members where accommodating but others where the completely opposite. After sitting in the waiting room for hours they brought us in to triage and continued to press on me and my mums bruises and injuries from the accident even after we were in visible pain. They did not understand the amount of mental trauma we had just gone through and they couldn’t care less. We get our scans done and go to the short stay department where they continued to try and put a cannula in my mums arm twice after she was screaming in pain, The doctor we had was rough and only cared if the job got done. They put a spinal collar on my neck although I had been moving it freely for the past 10 hours and the damage would have already been done. The nurses we had last night were lovely and understanding but the one we had this morning was extremely pushy and rude especially to the elderly patients. They were treated as nothing and discharged and sent home although still in visible pain, I was treated as nothing in-till I said my neck hurt, watching people come in and out with mental struggles and get turned away or only given some Panadol was extremely hard to watch. This hospital is understaffed and undertrained, I want to say thank you to the nurse at the front desk doing triage who took care of me and my mum, you are so absolutely lovely and caring.

To the people in the waiting room. Go to epworth or hoppers crossing, Even the city is worth the drive. If you are neurodivergent, elderly, mentally ill, a woman with abdominal pain or if you have a chronic pain disorder don’t come here.

Alister (Al)

This is for Barwon Health - pay your doctors more. Pay your nurses more. Hire more. The emergency staff are CLEARLY overworked and understaffed. They deserve better and patients deserve better.

Waited an hour with my mum (who had a massive surgery last year to remove cancer from her esophagus) to get in after she'd been in extreme pain, clammy, and was vomiting repeatedly. She had to be doubled over before being seen by a nurse. That was at 10pm roughly. It is now 3.16AM. She has not been seen once by a doctor, she is on strong drugs because regular painkillers did not stop her pain, and several people have been seen and moved on before her.

Absolute nonsense. This is NO judgement on the staff here - her nurse has been absolutely lovely, as has the other staff. Entirely on the people who run this hospital. Do better by your staff and ease their burden during hectic nights.

Rosemary Tate

Care of my son was great but definitely a lack of communication. He has no next of kin. My details were not handed on by the ambulance or if they did they were not noted. We were 3.5 hours away. Thank you toothed staff that took care of him

Stephen J Bradley

I have had the “pleasure” of being treated at the Andrew Love Cancer Centre at least once a month for the last nearly 10 years under the watchful eyes of Professor Philip Campbell and his magnificent team. From arriving to leaving we are all made to feel part of the place. The care and attention is second to none and the inclusion is palpable. Can’t understand anyone scoring Barwon anything but 5 stars. Love you All.

Jay Thompson

This place is seriously dangerous and needs a review ASAP. The doctor and physio I saw today were uncaring, patronising and need further training. My second time coming here and the same experience both times. Would be interesting to know how many deaths have resulted from the incompetence of the staff here.