Patients were pleased with the medical care but many were stressed or confused about their discharge. Source: Supplied
SEVERELY injured Victorians feel they are being sent home from hospital trauma centres too soon, unprepared to cope with their recovery, a study has found.
Also, many patients reported delays in surgery and believed this hindered their recovery and unnecessarily prolonged their overall stay in hospital.
Monash University researchers conducted one of the largest studies of trauma victims' perceptions of their care.
And they have called for an overhaul in how patients are treated after discharge from hospital.
Associate Professor Belinda Gabbe said patients were pleased with the medical care.
But many were stressed or confused about their discharge, and thought it happened too quickly and without enough information to prepare them to cope.
"Many felt insufficiently informed to make decisions about their treatment and rehabilitation choices, leading to a lack of trust in their clinical management," the study, published in the latest Medical Journal of Australia, says.
Interviews with 120 adult patients treated at the major trauma centres at The Alfred or Royal Melbourne hospitals found almost universal criticism of outpatient services.
A 37-year-old regional patient who was involved in a traffic accident said: "I drive down there, sit in traffic, sit in the waiting room for over three hours, and then spend 10 minutes with a different doctor to the one I saw last time."
A female road crash patient, 34, also complained: "I've spent five hours here to speak to a very junior doctor and get dodgy advice ... I'm going to go private."
A man, 35, suffering multiple injuries, complained he lost weight while fasting day after day waiting for surgery - only for it to be cancelled when a more serious case arose.
Patients said there was a lack of communication on wards, an impersonal process, and poor communication that meant they could not understand their prognosis.
Others said they missed vital information because they were too affected by their injuries, or heavily medicated.
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