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Care Opinion

A & E attendance

Posted By sunbe73

"A & E attendance"

About: University Hospital Hairmyres / Emergency Department

(as a service user),

I visited University Hospital Hairmyres A &E over a weekend in December.

I was triaged promptly but it was then a 14 hr wait in the waiting room overnight .

Nurses were clearly doing their best to triage patients , however the waiting area was dirty with litter on the floor and there were vastly insufficient chairs for patients . I observed carers having to sit on the edge of their relatives wheelchairs and many people having to lie on floor overnight. I was unable to leave my seat to go to the toilet all night for fear of having to spend the rest of the night on the floor in pain. The vending machine was empty meaning patients had no access to fluids for the entire night unless they disturbed the receptionist for a small cup of water. I witnessed many patients in pain and those with young children give up and leave before being seen.

The current A and E waiting times are unfortunate but if patients are needing to spend in excess of 12 hrs waiting, please provide them with adequate seating (for which there was plenty of space) and access to basic needs such as water.

I must stress that once seen, the care was excellent. However, it was quite upsetting to see our NHS in this state. I hope things start to improve .

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Responses

Response from Lise Axford, Chief of Nursing, University Hospital Hairmyres, NHS Lanarkshire about a year and a half ago
We are preparing to make a change
Lise Axford
Chief of Nursing, University Hospital Hairmyres,
NHS Lanarkshire

Submitted on 30/12/2022 at 08:50
Published on Care Opinion at 09:34

picture of Lise Axford

Dear sunbe73

I am sorry to read that you had such a long wait to be seen in the Emergency Department. You waited an exceptionally long time and this is not the standard that we strive to provide. However as you say, ED waiting times are high at present due to the demands on the service. My sincere apologies for the distress caused..

I am concerned to read that patients were lying on the floor, that the vending machine was empty and that refreshments were not available. I will look into this today as it is essential to provide seating and access to fluids.

Thank you for sharing that the care you received was excellent, staff will be pleased to read they are delivering good care. It is so important to receive feedback and your comments will be acted upon.

I hope that you are recovering well

Kind regards

Lise

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