"Sub-optimal care at Newham A&E"

I brought my father to A&E around midnight with severe upper abdominal/chest pain. He does have a cardiac history and I appreciate the immediate ECG that was carried out. I am however extremely disappointed with the care that was received by his allocated nurses thereafter. My father was in excruciating pain, writhing around and in absolute tears and vomiting. It makes no sense that was was given oral co-cocodamol especially as he was vomiting and with the degree of the pain he was experiencing. Only after constantly going up to the nurses expressing my concerns that he was prescribed anti-emetics and then oramorph after a significant delay. My father was looking increasingly dehydrated and clammy, not able to take any food/fluid orally hence would have benefited from some IV fluids for sure. I myself am a medical doctor in the NHS and I do not feel his clinical review was thorough enough. I was almost certain this was acute gastritis, however with his history of a previously diagnosed gastric ulcer and now presenting with worsening severe chest/abdominal pain I was quite shocked that he did not even have a chest x-ray (+/- abdominal X-ray) to rule out a perforation. Although unlikely this is a potentially life-threatening condition if missed with very high risk of deterioration and I am so disappointed that this was not performed especially in Emergency Medicine.

I appreciate the Emergency Departments in the NHS are constantly under-strain, due to lack of staffing and resources particularly at night - I know exactly what it is like to work in these conditions. But the whole point of A&E is to ensure potentially life-threatening conditions are not missed at the front door - I am seeing this happening time and time again and seeing it with my own father really upset me when he was given delayed inadequate pain relief and no fluids at all.

I have previously had very good experiences at Newham A&E when I attended myself or brought in a family member and hence did not expect this at all. I am very disappointed.