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Children's A&E...lovely staff but unacceptable...

Story from nhs.uk

"Children's A&E...lovely staff but unacceptable..."

About: Croydon University Hospital

I'd like to start by saying, all staff (admin, nurses and doc) were great and I have be no complaints about our care from them. There are just not enough of them!

We brought our 18 month old to the new A&E on advice from the GP after her breathing was laboured and she had a temp of 40. Arrived at 7pm on a Friday and in fairness her obs were checked straight away. Temp still high and heart rate quick.

Obs re-checked around 8.30pm but she was not seen by a doctor until nearly midnight....outside of the 4 hr wait we were told it could be. Luckily she was ok. We were prescribed antibiotics (another wait of about 20 mins, with us taking up a bed). Surely while waiting for prescriptions, we should be sent back to the waiting room so the doc can see another patient quickly?

When we arrived at 7pm, we were told some children had been waiting since the morning!! I have nothing bad to say about the staff...they're amazing and work so hard but it cannot ever be ok that babies and children are waiting more than a couple of hours, let alone over 4. It has really tainted my view of A&E and hope not to have to go back.

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Responses

Response from Hilary Frayne, Head of Nursing for the Emergency Department, Croydon Health Services 5 years ago
Hilary Frayne
Head of Nursing for the Emergency Department,
Croydon Health Services

Submitted on 08/01/2019 at 13:51
Published on Care Opinion at 15:46

Thank you for your lovely feedback about the staff you met in the Children's A&E. All staff get a chance to see your comments but I will make sure that the senior clinical team pass on your thanks and consider your suggestion about freeing up space while waiting for prescriptions.

We are very sorry you experienced long delays, which the A&E team try to avoid. Not every day is the same, and the waiting times are often much quicker so we are really sorry that this was not your experience. The priority for staff during busy periods is for overall patient safety and there is constant oversight of children who are waiting to be seen.

We appreciate that the environment is noisy and uncomfortable for those waiting for many hours, and the clinical team strive to keep waiting times down to a minimum. Thank you once again for taking the time to share your feedback and we hope your daughter is recovering well.

With best wishes

Hilary Frayne

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