"Poor triage in A&E for as head injury"

My husband had an accident at his gym where a pin snapped on a piece of equipment and a weight dropped at speed onto his head causing an open deep laceration. He complained of headache and extreme pain from the wound.

I picked him up from the gym and we immediately went to Mater A&E. We waited almost an hour to be triaged. The nurse who triaged him took his blood pressure and stuck a premiere pore dressing on the wound (which didn’t contain the volume of blood that was coming from the wound). The triage nurse asked if my husband would like paracetamol which he said he would but she didn’t give him any and told him to go back out and have a seat in the waiting area.

We waited another 5 hours to the point I asked reception if they knew how much longer we’d have to wait. I expressed my concern that the triage nurse did not do GCS obs following a head injury and they told me to go and speak to the charge nurse which I did and expressed the same concerns re GCS obs. My husband was then triaged again by the original triage nurse and the charge nurse because he’d been waiting so long and not yet seen a doctor.

They did GCS obs in front of me and the charge nurse asked if he’d had any paracetamol in the past 4 hours. I stated that hours ago during the first triage paracetamol was offered but never given. I said if he’s going to have to wait much longer and he only needs a dressing then I can dress it as I’m a nurse myself. The charge nurse then removed the premierepore and asked if I’d seen the wound, I said no and went over to look. I agreed that it would need proper stitches, I asked the charge nurse is there a time limit for a wound to be stitched? They replied 12 hours and we were sent out to wait yet again.

My husband was only seen by a doctor at 08:10am the following day and required stitches which took 10 minutes to do in the end!! 

At approx 20.50pm we arrived at Mater A&E and around 21:50pm triaged for the first time.  At  approx 02:40am queried wait time with reception and spoke with Charge Nurse.  03:15am he was re-triaged and GNS obs and pain relief finally administered.  At approx 07.15am re-triaged again.

Finally, at approx 08.10am seen by doctor,  who was very nice and stitched wound within 10 mins and husband discharged at last!

As a nurse I fully appreciate how chronically understaffed every department is!! I am writing this review as I am concerned that my husband had a significant head injury and initial triage obs taken was a bp with pain relief offered but not given and he was then left to wait coincidentally the almost 12 hours that the charge nurse stated they had to stitch a wound. I feel this was because I voiced concerns in the early hours of the morning. My husband was the very last patient to be treated out of everyone who was waiting during the night. Every alcoholic, every cut finger, every cut lip, every toothache seen before he was! 

Every experience I’ve had with family members I have had to bring to the Mater has been excellent until this experience. They’ve saved my dads life when I brought him over following a heart attack admitting him to await a quadruple bypass at RVH, they’ve taken action recently referring my mum to cardiology following a fall, where they discovered fast AF and a clot in an upper chamber of her heart which has prevented a stroke as she is now on apixaban and bisoprolol and awaiting a loop implant. 

The experience last night was so very disappointing and I don’t believe the Trust values were used in this instance.