Chemotherapy for kidney cancer in 21 Oncology clinics in Australia

Husband went in for a minor procedure with an epidural. The admission forms were filled out accurately but once we were admitted the nursing staff did not understand what the term “ as required” meant when associated with a dosage regime even though we explained it twice politely. The senior nurse was aggressive and hostile tried to gaslight us, accused us of not knowing what we were talking about, effectively implying that we were stupid. So after the staff trying to insult, demean and belittle us, without success by the way, we foolishly assumed the matter as settled. Silly us! The next day, post surgery, a hostile nurse charged into my husband’s room and “told him off”. Unfortunately variations of the disrespectful behaviour continued. I arrived to find my husband upset, agitated and distressed. I came to the conclusion that it would be in his best interest to leave. It was a very unpleasant experience which we would not recommend to anyone. Needless to say we will never go to a St Vincent’s Hospital again! My husband felt disrespected, bullied and harassed.He was right. That is exactly what happened. Leaving resolved the problem with a minimum of fuss.

After staying overnight with my son for an Adenotonsillectomy surgery, I'm afraid to say that I was extremely disappointed with our overall experience. Although St Vincent's was not our first choice, we did not have the option of going to our preferred hospital due to the surgeons availability and the urgent nature of our request. Needless to say, I was not all that fussed initially as I have been an inpatient at many private hospitals and have never had a bad experience. However, unfortunately, St Vincent's did not live up to it's expectations and I've received better care at public hospitals over the years. For a start, the "room service" which requires the patient to phone the kitchen and place the order of their choice sounded like a fantastic idea to begin with however, they failed to advise that the kitchen won't always answer when you call and upon placing your order, there is up to a 45 minute wait to receive your meal. Too bad if your child is hungry or thirsty as we were trying to get through to them to order our breakfast for 1.5 hours with no success only to be told we could not go home until my son had something to eat - not sure how they expect that when there is no food for him to eat?! There's also no set meals so if you can't get through on the phone to place your order, you simply don't eat! Also, the food in general was of poor quality. All the "hot" meals we ordered were served cold and utterly tasteless. My son was in severe pain following the surgery and vomited during the middle of the night which warranted the call for a nurse as his bed sheets were all soiled. Whilst a nurse arrived promptly to our call for help, to clean up the mess, she simply pulled off the soiled sheets, threw a towel on the floor to cover the vomit which spilled off the bed and left the room, leaving my son to sleep in a half made bed with hardly any blankets. The next morning on our discharge day, there was only one nurse rostered on for the entire paediatric unit and she advised that her shift finished at 11am and she has to close the ward down which means all patients had to be discharged by 11am. Too bad if there were complications and your kid was required to extend their stay!! I don't blame the nurses as it's not their fault they are the only ones rostered on and the one who was, was doing her best considering. However, I am incredibly disgusted with the deplorable service provided by the hospital in general, considering we pay an arm and a leg for the best possible health care - it's a disgrace. I will never go back to that hospital and will stick to our preferred option in the future.

My son aged 6 had a Adenotonsillectomy which required an overnight stay. The Children's ward was cheerfully decorated in a dinosaur theme which also included a games area. The nurses were lovely and very thorough. We had a lovely experience. A great hospital and a fantastic Children's ward.