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Terrible experience

Posted By decemberdy83

"Terrible experience"

About: Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital (Wonford) / Accident and emergency

(as a service user),

Recently had complications after surgery at night, the suspected issue was/is typically considered 'urgent' and requires an emergency specialist review (per BMJ). I was told a doctor will come to see me in a minute or 3hrs max. I ended up waiting 6.5hrs. During that time, no cleaners came in to clean the waiting room or communal toilets.

I was finally taken through and expressed my concerns to a nurse and my history was taken. I was then asked to talk to a Dr. Neither examined me at all- but reassured me everything looked good, and I should wait 5+ days to get hold of my consultant. After the 2 minute chat, I apologised for wasting their time and left the department.

Overnight my symptoms deteriorated and I was back at A&E within 6hrs, waited roughly 3.5hrs to be seen this time. The appropriate department was paged for a thorough examination, I was examined and found to have moderate surgical complications that needed treatment. I felt fobbed off from initial point of contact, made to feel like I was a burden and going crazy! 

Total of 10hrs waiting to have something that should've been done properly first time. When I spoke to the 2nd visit clinician they seemed unimpressed and to believe that it should've never happened. I feel that if I was less observant, less likely to advocate for myself - this could've been an extremely risky situation. 

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Responses

Response from Tamara Martin Garcia, Sister, Emergency Department (Eastern Services), Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 2 months ago
Tamara Martin Garcia
Sister, Emergency Department (Eastern Services),
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Sister Emergency Department

Submitted on 20/04/2025 at 09:30
Published on Care Opinion at 09:30

picture of Tamara Martin Garcia

Thank you for taking the time to share such detailed feedback, and I’m really sorry to hear about the experience you had. We absolutely understand the frustration and distress of waiting for extended periods, especially when dealing with something that you believed required urgent attention.

We want to reassure you that we do prioritize patients based on the severity of their illness, and there are times when patients in resus require emergency, life-saving care, which necessitates that all available doctors attend to them. On certain nights, particularly with reduced staffing and a skeleton crew, delays can happen, and we understand this can be frustrating. However, we do make every effort to triage patients so that those with the most urgent needs are seen first.

Your safety and well-being are of the utmost importance to us, and it’s clear that this was not reflected in the care you received during that initial visit. I am sorry that you felt like your concerns were not taken seriously, and I understand how critical it is to advocate for yourself when something feels wrong.

We will use your feedback to continue improving our processes and communication, and I will ensure this issue is reviewed to help prevent similar situations in the future. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, and we truly appreciate your understanding.

Tamara Martin Garcia

Emergency Department Sister

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