"24 + hours on a small blue hard chair"

I ended up in RD&E AE after phoning 111 with severe pain in my abdomen, under my right ribs. The 111 handler shocked me by saying I could be having a heart attack. I had thought that I could have pulled a muscle.

In AE I was seen quickly by the triage nurse who did not think I was having a heart attack but there were a number of things to look for so I was not going home yet.

I soon had blood tests done, was seen by 2 Drs in the minors dept and then was sent to Abbey ward for further tests. All staff professional. This was about 10 hours after I arrived. I had had some pain relief, although it took over 30 mins to arrive each time. The wait was well over the 4 hours that the app indicated. The chairs were hard and vending machine not working properly so no tea or coffee. The chairs did not help manage the pain.

The only bonus was that the area was calm, quiet and clean.

On Abbey ward I was initially laid on a couch for a short time. I was seen by Drs, observations done and told that I needed to have a scan. I was soon moved from couch to the waiting room. I waited until late afternoon for the scan, then waited again for the Dr to see me again when I was sent home for the night. Diagnosis still not conclusive. I was to come back the next day for more tests.

Staff were professional and calm. The chairs hard. I had been in the hospital for about 24 hours. Most of it sat on a small, hard blue chair.

I was phoned early the next day and told to come into the ward and then have a CTscan before seeing the Drs again. This all took nearly 4 hours. Most of the time waiting was waiting for the Dr. I was then given my diagnosis and discharged home.

As a former clinician of over 40 years but a very infrequent user of the NHS. I know the pressures and staff are under. Seeing it up close was eye opening. The staff were all calm and professional. Most compassionate and kind with a couple apologising for the long waits. The hospital was clean. Signposting was ok but more signs for ‘Way Out’ would help. That very long main corridor is hard to identify which end you came in and where the main entrance ( and car parks) are.

Any way you can get more Drs available to assess patients would help reduce patient contact with those hard, small blue chairs. I could also have freed up a chair for someone else if I had had my Ultrasound scan done much sooner in AE and sent home then.