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A long wait

Posted By Common Sense

"A long wait"

About: Altnagelvin Area Hospital / Emergency department

(as a relative),

I attended A&E with my husband, who has recently had surgery for cancer and who collapsed. We had a 10-hour wait from arrival to leaving. Three of those hours were spent simply waiting for blood results, after which we were able to leave.

When planning A&E services, surely it would make sense to significantly increase laboratory capacity specifically for A&E to allow a much more rapid turnaround of patients?

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Responses

Response from Trudy Wallace, Sister Emergency Department Altnagelvin Hospital, Acute Services Altnagelvin, WHSCT 2 months ago
Trudy Wallace
Sister Emergency Department Altnagelvin Hospital, Acute Services Altnagelvin,
WHSCT

Submitted on 05/04/2025 at 15:42
Published on Care Opinion at 15:42

Hi Common Sense, I trust that your husband is feeling better now, thank-you for your feedback regarding your his journey through our department. While I cannot advise on the time required to accurately process bloods in order to obtain results, our blood samples in ED are all processed as urgent, and are usually available within 2 1/2 hours - at busy times within the laboratory this time may be a little longer. Within ED we also strive to carry out investigations such as bloods as soon as possible after arrival in order to speed up the patient's overall journey.

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