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My admission for Asthma attack

Posted By TJ474

"My admission for Asthma attack"

About: Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital / Accident and emergency South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust / NHS 111

(as a service user),

I was unwell with an asthma attack and couldn’t get to see my doctor because it was Christmas. I phoned 111 for advice and they wanted to call an ambulance for me. I said my daughter would take me in to save the ambulance service a trip. I arrived in the afternoon at the time they had given me an arrival slot.  The nurse on 111 was very clear I should go straight to the urgent care department for treatment and not to A&E which would mean me sitting around for hours.  I know this from previous admissions.   However, when I got to the QEQM Hospital the checking in nurse said that the urgent care was actually an appointment with my GP (?) and I was too sick to wait for that, so she sent me through to A&E. I tried to explain I needed a nebuliser urgently to no avail over the next four hours. I had chest x-ray and blood, which I knew were going to be clear.  When you are an asthmatic and have frequent attacks, you do get to know what is going on, and what you urgently need to enable you to breathe again!  I was finally put on a nebuliser about 4 hours after my arrival… by this time, I was feeling exhausted, hot and had an awful headache.

Asthma attacks should be something that are highlighted… I don't think you should make somebody hang around for treatment when they are having trouble breathing and speaking.  I can’t fault the attitude of the staff as everybody was hard-working, and kind. But to make an asthmatic wait hours for a nebuliser in my opinion is quite frankly dangerous.  I am not sure why the nurse thought the urgent care department meant an appointment with my GP… It is clearly a department through the A&E because I have been there before for treatment.

Thankfully, after the nebuliser, I was allowed to go home to recover with steroids and antibiotics.  Please give some credit to asthma sufferers who know what treatment they need urgently to enable them to breathe!

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Responses

Response from Head of Patient Voice and Involvement, Clinical Quality and Patient Safety, East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust 16 months ago
We are preparing to make a change
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 28/12/2022 at 17:45
Published on Care Opinion at 18:25

Thank you for letting us know about your recent visit to QEQM A & E / Urgent Treatment Centre. You highlighted a number of issues and I will contact the service and ask for them to provide some comments on this. I will then post an update on here.

Best wishes.

Response from Head of Patient Voice and Involvement, Clinical Quality and Patient Safety, East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust 16 months ago
We are preparing to make a change
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 29/12/2022 at 14:26
Published on Care Opinion at 14:29

Your feedback has been reviewed by the Head of Nursing for Urgent and Emergency Care.

Patients are prioritised according to their needs. We appreciate the wait was frustrating, but 4 hours is not unusual in the Emergency Department (ED), and we have processes to follow depending on the initial assessment.

Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) patients will be seen by either an Emergency care practitioner who see minor injuries or a GP who see minor illness. This will not be their usual GP. Bloods and X-ray cannot be done by a GP in the UTC.

Whilst we recognise patients with long-term conditions are experts by experience when it comes to how their condition affects them, we still have processes to follow to ensure patient safety.

We appreciate this can be frustrating, but although this was a typical asthma attack for you, your symptoms may have indicated further investigation was advisable. We do not send patients home for home nebulisation unless this is usual for them and set up already in the home.

From your description it sounds like the ED team did a thorough assessment, to ensure you got the appropriate care. If you would like us to look into any other aspects of your care, please contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) on tel: 01227 783145 or email: ekh-tr.pals@nhs.net PALS are open Monday to Friday 9am to 4pm, except bank holidays. If you phone and get the voicemail, please leave a message and the team will get back to you.

Planned change:

We don’t currently provide written documentation on UTC and ED, but this is something we have taken as an action to do within our CQC action plan.

Update posted by TJ474 (a service user)

Thank you for your response however I was not annoyed at the four hour wait for a normal A&E process. What I was concerned about what’s the lack of urgency around giving me a nebuliser to allow me to breathe. I was admitted back in July and taken straight in for steroids and a nebuliser before any tests have been done. I’m not sure what changed this time as I was clearly struggling to breathe.

Response from Head of Patient Voice and Involvement, Clinical Quality and Patient Safety, East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust 16 months ago
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 03/01/2023 at 12:59
Published on Care Opinion at 12:59

I'm sorry that your recent experience differed from when you attended in July, but without knowing the full details we cannot respond any further. If you would like us to look into this further, please contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) on tel: 01227 783145 or email: ekh-tr.pals@nhs.net. PALS are open Monday to Friday 9am to 4pm, except bank holidays. If you phone and get the voicemail please leave a message and the team will get back to you.

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