"The good and the bad of frontline health care"

My wife has been suffering with repeated UTIs since March of 2023 and has been prescribed a number of different antibiotics to try and help deal with the recurring issue. She has also been fighting a cold that she contracted in October, but never really cleared up.

Our GP recently contacted my wife, suggesting she go to AMIA in ARI for blood tests. My wife declined, deciding that she would wait until the new year, as she had been suffering with it for months, so a few more days wouldn't make much difference. I started night shifts that day and left for work around 5pm. Just before leaving to work, my wife was sick. This was unusual, even with the repeated infections, as she hadn't suffered with nausea and vomiting previously.

 

I received a phone call from my daughter to tell me that my wife now had a temp of 39.7 degrees and was very unwell. They phoned 111 to seek advice, but there was a 58-minute wait time and my wife's temperature was still going up, now at 40.4. My wife was experiencing 4/5 of the symptoms of sepsis - fast breathing, fast heart rate, high temp, dizziness and mottled skin - so I decided it was best to call 999 for an ambulance. The ambulance crew were fantastic and stayed with my wife until I arrived home, they had phoned for advice and we were asked if we were happy to head into ED at ARI and hand over the triage letter from the ambulance crew.

 

When we arrived at the entrance of ARI ED there were two people sat at the desk - one in a light blue NHS uniform and another next to them in no NHS clothing. To say that they made me feel unwelcome when I spoke with them is an understatement. The look I got from the person in the NHS uniform when approaching the desk was one I could only describe as disdain. They muttered something between them prior to opening the sliding panel, then I explained to them why we were there. I handed over the ambulance letter, which they briefly scanned before taking a deep breath to continue. The other person asked if they would like them to deal with me, but they took another breath and said no, I'll manage. They then proceeded to admit my wife, but with more than a few scathing comments - Why didn't you speak to G-Meds? If she's so sick, why didn't an ambulance bring you? I said the ambulance crew had spoken with someone there and they were quick to point out that it wouldn't have been someone on site. Then they asked me who they had spoken with, I told them I didn't know, but we were told to come straight in. I told them about the waiting time on the phone for NHS24 and they smiled with what I would call a smug grin, then informed me that they were extremely busy and to expect a long wait before being seen.

My wife saw them saying something and staring at my back as I walked away, so she went and spoke to them. Explaining that we were just doing as we had been told and didn't want to be in the hospital, at which point they seemed very apologetic, but by then the damage was done. I walked away in the end, as I didn't want to say something I shouldn't. But I would think when you're standing in ED at 2:30 am, the professionals working in the NHS at the reception desk would have the decency to know you're already having a bad day.

Isn't your NMC code structured around four themes - priorities people, practice effectively, preserve safety and promote professionalism and trust? I'd say at least two of those structures were failed on this day. We certainly were not their priority, they seemed more interested in letting me know that we shouldn't be there, but without actually saying it. Promote professionalism and trust, they were wholly unprofessional in my view, and the simple fact of staring at us whilst speaking then stopping before opening the sliding door just makes you think they are talking about you. I believe the one in the NHS uniform had made an opinion of me as soon as I walked through the door.

We did everything the right way - called NHS24, called 999 as sepsis is extremely dangerous, drove into ARI to alleviate the strain on the ambulance service ,to arrive and be treated like some 3rd class citizen who has no right to be there. It was absolutely appalling and only made my already very ill wife even more upset and distressed. Rather than promoting anything positive in an already stressful and worrying situation, they just made both of us more stressed.

The interactions with the staff for the remainder of our visit to ARI were far more pleasant. The triage nurse was wonderful, the nursing staff in the ED were all lovely, very helpful and attentive. But to put our initial interaction in perspective, the doctors suspected possible sepsis or meningitis. The doctors were all very helpful and eventually we left after a bag of IV paracetamol and another of Plasma. After testing they found my wife has influenza A on top of her on going infection. 

I wish we hadn't had to go into hospital, but I'm glad we did. 

But the way the staff at the reception desk made us feel was atrocious, when all we were looking for was medical care and advice. I said to my wife in the waiting room, I can see how elderly people end up passing away at home alone. Imagine if that had been someone who had just wandered in, expecting an ED department to help them, I think they would probably turn around and leave, because that's what I wanted to do.