"Unresponsive, inadequate care."

I raced my father to A&E at midnight, he was in anaphylactic shock, his tongue was swollen to dangerous levels. Upon entering A&E, we waited for 20mins to be admitted to a bay. I kept explaining to the staff that my father needed urgent medical care as his airway was restricted. I was continually fobbed off.

Long story short, after 45 minutes, a health care assistant checked on my father, decided that because I had given him an antihistamine, he'd be fine. We waited a further half an hour to see a nurse. We waited a further three hours for a doctor who never came.

A&E was quiet, the nurses were chatting away happily about the TV shows they had watched, and ignored us. When we decided that we would take the risk to discharge my father as it was 3am, and at 87, he was tired and cold, eventually (when I could get someone's attention), I was spoken to aggressively by a staff member.

Having had anaphylactic episodes myself, I know too well what level of care he should have received, and he didn't get it.

I also work for the NHS, and I take a pride in my work. The patient always comes first and this care was inadequate. I also note that in the hospital I work for, we don't need posters on the wall notifying patients that any confrontational behaviour won't be accepted, we instead welcome people warmly, care for their needs and deliver timely care. Even when we are all tired and patients are upset, this approach diffuses situations. We don't need a poster on the wall to tell people off before they've done anything. I find that when I see those posters in certain hospitals, it usually warns me of a staff who are themselves unhappy, and poorly-led.

This A&E department failed us on multiple levels, poor on care, poor on dignity and respect, delivering unsafe and ineffective levels of care, projecting uncaring attitudes to patient's needs, and dangerously unresponsive. I truly believe this is down to poor leadership.

I would like to see this department turn themselves around, be patient focused, caring, and responsive, talking about patient care rather than TV shows. I am sure they would feel more professionally fulfilled, patients would feel safe and most importantly, care would be delivered and received with confidence.

I found this department to be inadequate. And I truly hope that they can turn it around. I can promise every member of staff there that the sense of pride that comes with an Outstanding rating will turn your professional life around. And the patient's experience. Work at it. Because right now, you're not far off being classed as care-less.