Miscarrying woman 'turned away' from hospital
A young woman has told of her miscarriage nightmare after being sent home from one of Victoria's hospitals.
Weronika Morehouse visited the Monash Medical Centre's emergency department in February this year after experiencing severe pain, sickness and bleeding eight weeks into her pregnancy.
Weronika says she and her husband, David, were told they could avoid a hefty bill by going to a GP, but they returned to emergency after the pain became worse.
This time Weronika, who was on a tourist visa at the time, was admitted and seen by a doctor who told them nothing could be done once a miscarriage had begun.
"The lady touched my belly and said there's nothing we can do, we don't have the resources to give you an ultrasound on the weekend," Weronika told Seven News.
"We could tell she wanted to help, but she didn't know how.
"They said to us 'you can come back on Monday', but I believe if something is happening to you, you can't wait a few days. That kind of stuff should be done on the spot, especially if it's an emergency.
"Then that was it, we left. It was just terrible."
Just a week later the couple were sent a $400 medical bill, and Weronika says the hospital finance department has been calling ever since.
"It would be nice to be left alone," David said.
Southern Health says Mrs Morehouse would have suffered a miscarriage even if she had been admitted to emergency, adding the bill dispute is the result of a miscommunication between departments.
Professor George Braitberg, Director of Emergency Medicine at Southern Health, said: "What this highlights is these two departments need to get together and determine how best to manage it."
