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Good A&E team but poor cleanliness

Posted By BigYin81

"Good A&E team but poor cleanliness"

About: Borders General Hospital / Accident & Emergency

(as a carer),

Attended with wife that had shut her thumb in car door earlier in day but pain was increasing. We were triaged quickly and sent for an X-ray.  All of this happened within 50mins which we thought was really good seeing as there were a lot of others in waiting area.  After X-ray however we had to wait 1hr 45mins for a doctor to come see us. No fracture, as we already suspected, and they were willing to puncture the nail to relieve the pressure from under it.  This was all done and we were free to go. 

The waiting area wasn’t good though. Quite a lot of the chairs had rips in them and others were all worn and splitting.  The floors were also quite messy with mud and rubbish.  Toilets also weren’t very clean. With them being shared male/female there was a lot of liquid around the toilet and on the floor.   There were also some splits in the flooring in the room we were triaged in (rm 4 I think) which we felt is just a prime place for bugs and germs to grow and spread. 

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Responses

Response from Karen Maitland, Clinical Service Manager - Primary Care, NHS Borders 5 years ago
We are preparing to make a change
Karen Maitland
Clinical Service Manager - Primary Care,
NHS Borders

Submitted on 21/11/2019 at 16:01
Published on Care Opinion at 16:26

Dear BigYin81

I am sorry that your wife required to visit the Emergency Department (ED) after injuring her thumb. I was however glad to hear that she was seen quickly on arrival and received the treatment she required.

With regards to the condition of some of the chairs in the waiting room, flooring in the traige room and general cleanliness of the department, I can only apologise that you found the department this way. The Borders General Hospital is now over 30 years old and therefore as a result requires some care and repair. I have spoken with the Senior Charge Nurse and Clinical Nurse Manager for the ED who share your concerns and have advised that they are awaiting works being carried out to the department to improve the facilities. The Clinical Nurse Manager will raise this issue again with our Estates colleagues in the hope of getting this much needed work completed as soon as possible.

Thank you for taking the time to use Care Opinion to share the details of you and your wife's experience of visiting the ED. We greatly appreciate our patients and their relatives taking the time to provide us with feedback which can allow us to celebrate examples of good practice or make improvements where required.

Regards,

Karen

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Response from Karen Maitland, Clinical Service Manager - Primary Care, NHS Borders 5 years ago
We have made a change
Karen Maitland
Clinical Service Manager - Primary Care,
NHS Borders

Submitted on 20/12/2019 at 10:57
Published on Care Opinion at 11:04

Dear BigYin81

Since you submitted your Care Opinion story we have carried out some work in our Emergency Department, specifically in our waiting room area. We have replaced all the chair coverings and provided a new floor.

This has made a huge difference to the appearance of the department and I hope that you would notice an improvement should you need to visit the department again (hopefully not though!).

Best wishes for the festive season.

Regards,

Karen

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