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Ridiculously long wait times in a&e

Story from nhs.uk

"Ridiculously long wait times in a&e"

About: Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital

I arrived by ambulance around 10pm due to chest pains, nausea and pins and needles. Took over 9 hours to be discharged and many others were there the same time. Staff were friendly but i had no communication about what was happening. Had an ecg after about an hour then placed in waiting room with no idea what was happening. Got called 2 hours later for blood pressure check and was told to wait 2 hrs for next one. After nearly 3 hours I was called for pressure check again. I had to ask what was happening as I'd been sat for 6 hours. Told I'd have to wait for doctor then a blood test. Not sure why the blood test want organised earlier so it would have been ready for doctor. After crying due to discomfort I already had then the discomfort of sitting for 6 hours the lovely nurse did my blood test then. I then had another 3 hour wait for the doctor. Given the reason I came in I'd have thought and ecg and blood test would've been priority. It's a busy hospital I get that but it's always 8-10hr wait in a&e. They either need to invest in a&e or shut it as its unacceptable for patients to sit in the waiting room for that long. Wansbeck is much better and quicker but only deal with minor issues so this is the only place we can go.

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Responses

Response from Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital 9 months ago
Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital

Submitted on 10/07/2024 at 11:17
Published on nhs.uk at 11:17

Dear Reviewer,

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to leave a review and share your experience of the A&E Department at NSECH.

We would like to look into this further with you and there are a few options which you could consider.

Option 1

• With your consent (or the consent of the person you are representing) we can forward your feedback to the department manager so that they can look into this and reply to you directly. This will also help them to learn from your experience. Please note this will involve sharing your personal details with the department manager so they are able to provide you with a response.

Option 2

• You can speak to PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service). PALS offer confidential advice and support, and can act independently to raise and help resolve issues. The details for PALS can be found here: https://www.northumbria.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/share-your-feedback/patient-and-advice-liaison-service-pals#fcdc5f8a

Option 3

• You can register a complaint with our complaints service. This usually has to be within 12 months of the event happening. You can find out more about the complaints procedure here: https://www.northumbria.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/share-your-feedback/how-make-complaint#c0e2191e

We will be fully guided by what feels best for you, so please let us know how you would like to proceed.

If you choose to receive feedback directly from the department manager (Option 1), please provide the information detailed below to us at Patient.Experience@northumbria-healthcare.nhs.uk:

Name

Date of birth

Contact details

Date of appointment or admission (including ward and/or department)

How you want to be contacted (email, letter or telephone)

I will look out for your email.

Best Wishes,

The Experience Team

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