"Poor care at Rotherham Hospital"

My nan (aged 65) fell down 5 steps at the front of her house and couldn't stand properly an had hurt her arm and head.

We called for an ambulance and arrived at Rotherham Hospital at 6pm. She was given pain killers at 6.30pm and then we were left to wait until 11.30pm until a doctor came to assess her condition. I was furious. After the x-rays, we found she had a broken rib - how dangerous is it to leave anyone for 6 hours who may have a broken rib - her lung could have been punctured.

After having a moblity test to see if she was able to go home, we were told 3 times that she could - only for this to be contradicted later on. I asked the nurses a few times, who tried to be as helpful as possible, whether we could see a doctor as she was in pain and we needed to find out what was happening, but all that was offered were more pain killers - this is not acceptable.

I left my nan at 3.30am after being in A&E for 9 & 1/2 hours, being told that she would be moved to a ward in the next half an hour. The next day my exhausted nan said she'd been in A&E until 6.30am, more than 12 hours after she arrived.

I understand that A&E is a very busy department and that priorities have to be made, to the qualtiy of care she received seemed to be trying to be masked by the nurses smiling faces and pleasant natures. I understand that the doctors are busy and it was a very busy time of the night, but my nan was kept waiting for 6 hours when the doctor suspected she may have a broken rib - that is what I find disgusting!