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Unacceptable wait for pain relief

Posted By virgocr43

"Unacceptable wait for pain relief"

About: Forth Valley Royal Hospital / Accident & emergency

(as a service user),

I visited the ED after being advised by NHS 24 telling to go there. As I was unable to weight bear through my left foot, I would nit be accepted in minor injuries.

My son drove me to Forth Valley he took the wait on my left side as I hopped to get a wheelchair.
The triage nurse did not seem to understand or disbelieved me that I could not weight bear through my left foot.
They told me it would be sore, they expected it to be painful. Then told be that as I was unable to go to minor injuries I would just have to wait. Which was fine I expected to wait as long as it took, was uncomfortable but my injury was not life threatening.
I sent my son home as I didn’t think there was any need for him to wait too.
I sat in a wheelchair in the waiting area at
2 hours into my wait I requested pain relief from the triage nurse, they said they would sort it out, it never came.
4 hours into my wait I asked again for pain relief I was told they needed to get through the triage list first.
5 hours into my wait asked another nurse for pain relief, she told me she would sort it. 

My husband arrived, I was tearful and still in pain, I needed the toilet so he was able to wheel me to the toilet and then to the triage room to ask again for pain relief.

I felt that the first nurse suspected soft tissue injury and did not believe that I was unable to weight bare.

Then told be doctor suggested I had soft a tissue injury with very little examination. 

After the X-ray it was confirmed that I had fractured the 5th metatarsal an injury renowned for being unable to walk or weight bare.

I didn’t mind the weight to see a doctor it only to be expected, but was completely unacceptable was making me wait for pain relief. 

I was disappointed in the nurse, I am a nurse myself and never disclosed this during my visit. I shouldn’t need to, to get respect and care deserving of the NHS.

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Responses

Response from Pamela Scott, Lead Nurse, Emergency Department/Acute assessment/Clinical assessment unit and urgent care centre, NHS Forth Valley 2 months ago
Pamela Scott
Lead Nurse, Emergency Department/Acute assessment/Clinical assessment unit and urgent care centre,
NHS Forth Valley

Submitted on 10/09/2025 at 08:10
Published on Care Opinion at 08:10

Dear virgocr43

Thank you for sharing your recent experience of the emergency department. I’m very sorry to hear about the delay in receiving pain relief during your visit, I understand how distressing this must have been, especially given your confirmed fracture.

While waiting to be seen can be unavoidable, pain relief should never be delayed. I apologise that your repeated requests were not acted on, and that you felt disbelieved during triage. This is not the standard of care we aim to provide.

I will share your feedback with the ED team to support learning and improvement, particularly around pain management and communication. We are currently reviewing our triage process, and your experience will help inform changes to ensure patients in pain are better supported.

Best wishes

pam

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by virgocr43 (a service user)

Thank you for your reply and recognising my concerns and disappointment.

I would hope that the triage nurse would learn and be able to reflect in this to improve her practice. To be dismissed and told that the triage list took precedence over pain relief was unacceptable for me.

Perhaps I did not present how they expected a person in pain to be! I’m not sure why there was a delay and why I was told that they just needed to get through the list.

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