"A and E dept"

Anything else?

Just got home ( 8.00pm) from East Surrey Hospital having been called in at 6.30am this morning as my 82 year old mother in law had been admitted by ambulance with abdominal pains. It took until 7.30 this evening for the registrar to see and suggest discharging my mother in law, because he was the only one in the whole hospital all day that could see her. I cannot believe how short staffed they are . The nurses are doing 12.5 hour shifts with 1/2 hr for lunch, they cope extremely well, on just a quick snack, the registrar was in surgery all day, dealing with other cases and could not come away. My mother in laws case could have been dealt within a few hours and the beds she was taking up ,one in A & E 6 hours, one in surgical assessment unit for the remaining 7.5 hours could have been freed up, During all this time the stress on the patient was evident due to the fact that she was not allowed any food or drink, or her normal 'meds' until the doctor had seen her, which was 27 hours in total, since she had not eaten since the afternoon before, she was deteriorating before our eyes . If she had been given blood tests and x ray earlier and a doctor available all this could have been avoided. If a surgeon/ consultant is booked for surgery then another doctor needs to be employed/available to deal with the emergency cases coming in throughout the day. The staff are just as frustrated , but very professional about it. There is a balance to be achieved and something needs to change , otherwise this waste of resources will surely bring the NHS to its knees. Management needs to listen, More quality doctors, nurses and time with the patients required asap.