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Like a war zone

Story from nhs.uk

"Like a war zone"

About: Princess Royal University Hospital (Orpington)

I visited a and e in Jan 2020 with my mother who is 97 and was not feeling too good.

We sat in fit to sit for 8 hours. I have to say the whole area was like a war zone patients everywhere. My mother had blood ecg X-ray etc done. We were told it would be a 7 hour wait to see a doctor. After 3 hours 30 mins I asked the nurse what was happening and she snapped I told you it was a 7 hour wait. I mentioned about the Government 4 hour window and she said oh that goes out the window when we are like this, However a further 10 mins passed and a doctor came to visit. Hours come and go without any contact only when you make a noise does something happen. I have been to a and e before and have had good service. Something was lacking today.

Your comments would be appreciated.

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Responses

Response from Princess Royal University Hospital 4 years ago
Princess Royal University Hospital

Submitted on 31/01/2020 at 00:12
Published on nhs.uk at 13:30

Hello. I am so sorry to read your comments about the experience you had with your mother at the PRUH A&E. As you will appreciate, the department does get extremely busy but there is no excuse for poor attitude from staff or off the cuff comments about the 4 hour target. We are fully aware that there are issues with the waiting times and experience of patients and their families at the A&E and there is an extensive programme of work to improve. You may not be aware that, at our last Care Quality Commission inspection, the PRUH A&E was rated as inadequate which is not good news for anyone. We reallty are trying to make things work and I am very sorry that in your case, this did not happen. If you would like to talk through your experience with one of the A&E team, we would value your input. Please feel free to contact me direct on jessica.bush@nhs.net. I am Head of Patient Experience for the trust and would be happy to facilitate. Once again, please accept our apologies for the poor experience that you had.

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