"A night in the Emergency Department"

I was advised to attend the hospital Emergency Department by paramedics who attended my house following a medical incident.

I was admitted in the early hours of the morning and left to wait without any information all through the night and treated poorly by a few different members of staff who seemed burnt out to me.

Some were pleasant to patients and helped or provided information when requested, but seemed very unhappy in their jobs and overworked to me.

The staff member who took over the consulting room came on to shift with what I feel was an incredibly rude attitude towards all patients. Many of the patients were very tired and in a lot of pain after spending at least 8 hours overnight waiting in hard plastic seats.

I feel that this member of staff had a sarcastic manner with anyone new who arrived and accidentally sat in the wrong red urgent ECG chairs. I observed patients sitting accidentally in these seats throughout the night at least 4 times an hour, indicating that the signage is not effective. It is not easily noticeable when entering from the paramedics entrance side of the room. I think adding writing via large print stickers onto the seats themselves would be more effective.

Following seeing a medical doctor, I handed in a sample that the doctor asked me to hand in to the consultation room. I was verbally reprimanded in front of the full waiting room for not having written my name on the tube - I attended hospital in an ambulance, had not slept all night, and did not have a pen on me, nor had I been instructed to write onto the tube.

This member of staff then also publicly chastised a lady who asked politely if they could admit her through the door into the main A&E. They shocked a room of over 20 patients with their unprofessional and inappropriate manner.