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"A&E experience"

About: Royal Victoria Hospital / Accident & Emergency

(as a service user),

I was referred by my GP as he had examined me and advised he couldn’t hear air movement in my right lung. Upon arriving at A&E I as triaged within an hour and had blood taken within two hours, then occasional BP checks.

When I inquired after 13 1/2 hours when I might see a doctor I was advised it would be several more hours as I wasn’t a priority case. At this point I gave up and went home.

I attended A&E at another hospital the next morning, where I was triaged and seen by a doctor within 5 hours, I had an Xray and was diagnosed with fluid on my lung and referred to respiratory at a future date.

In my experience, the A&E at the Royal was beyond crisis point, they had seats for about 150 people and there were multiple people standing, I attended A&E previously and it was triaged properly through an urgent care waiting area, but this seems to have stopped and it is now one huge waiting area.

It was a very disappointing and unbearable experience and I saw several people give up and leave before I did, I wouldn’t be surprised if this costs lives

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Responses

Response from John Barron, Service Manager, Service Manager, Urgent and Emergency Care, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust yesterday
John Barron
Service Manager, Service Manager, Urgent and Emergency Care,
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
Submitted on 30/06/2025 at 11:31
Published on Care Opinion at 11:31


Dear thubanmx98,

I’m John Barron, Service Manager for Urgent and Emergency Care. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience on Care Opinion. I am sorry to read about your experience.

Our staff work extremely hard to care for patients and priority will always be given to those with immediately life threatening conditions. Unfortunately, the entire Health and Social Care System remains under significant pressure and as a result this often results in long wait times. We do strive to treat each patient individually with care and compassion through all stages of their journey in ED. Your experience is not one we would wish for any patient.

Kind regards

John

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