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Made to feel like I was wasting time

Posted By februarypy59

"Made to feel like I was wasting time"

About: Borders General Hospital / Accident & Emergency

(as the patient),

At work as a joiner and I somehow managed to hit my hand with my hammer with full force. I worked on but by the time I returned home the pain was unbearable so I decided to go to A& E - not something I am usually comfortable doing.

On arrival I was seen promptly by the triage nurse who was very helpful and saw fit to send me for an X-ray. The X-ray technician was lovely and understood the pain I was encountering. Unfortunately that’s where my good experience ended.

I was called by a doctor who made me feel like I was wasting time as there were no breaks or obvious injures. I did not feel that they were understanding of why I came to A&E and made me think that I could’ve saved myself a journey by taking painkillers. I genuinely thought that I had broken something and that A&E was the place to go - how wrong was I?

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Responses

Response from Edmund Witkowski, Clinical Service Manager, Unscheduled Care, NHS Borders 5 years ago
Edmund Witkowski
Clinical Service Manager, Unscheduled Care,
NHS Borders

Submitted on 03/08/2018 at 12:08
Published on Care Opinion at 12:32

Dear Februarypy59,

Thank you for getting in contact with us. I am sorry you were made to feel the way you did during your visit to the Emergency Department.

If would like to contact us directly or through our Complaints Department we would be pleased to look into the experience you had in greater detail.

Please do not let this experience put you off using our Emergency Department when you feel this is the best option for addressing an urgent health issue.

Ed

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Response from Lynn McCallum, Medical Director, NHS Borders 5 years ago
Lynn McCallum
Medical Director,
NHS Borders

Along with the Director of Nursing, we are collectively responsible for the clinical care delivered within NHS Borders.

Submitted on 10/08/2018 at 15:09
Published on Care Opinion at 15:12

picture of Lynn McCallum

Dear Februarypy59,

Thank you for taking the time to feedback to us via Care Opinion. I am so incredibly sorry that you were made to feel as though you were time wasting - there is no excuse for any patient to be made to feel as though they are in the wrong when they seek medical attention. The description of your injury sounds perfectly appropriate to be seen in our ED, especially as we have no x-ray facilities within our minor injury units across the Borders. The reality of course is that it is easy to be dismissive AFTER x-rays have excluded a fracture!

I will forward your review to our lead consultant and senior charge nurse within the Emergency department and would not be surprised if they respond here in addition to myself and Ed. I suspect they will also highlight this to the medical staff within the department as a reminder of the importance of communication skills. There are of course occasions where patients are redirected to alternative medical resources from the emergency department but it does not sound like this would have been appropriate on this occasion.

I hope that your hand is now recovering and that you have managed to get back to work.

With best wishes,

Lynn

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