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Care Opinion

A&E treatment

Posted By madperson

"A&E treatment"

About: Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust - Queen's Medical Centre Campus / Accident and emergency Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust / Adult Mental Health Services - Community (County)

(as a service user),

Last weekend I was struggling with my mental health and unfortunately self harmed and had to attend A&E

I am currently shielding so it was a difficult decision to go to the hospital but I know that I needed some help

When I booked in at reception I felt very judged and the person taking my details rolled her eyes and said to someone else ‘self harm!’

I was quickly taken to another area and put in a cubicle that only had curtains between them.

The first nurse that I saw was very understanding and talked to me and even made me a cup of tea which was really nice. They seemed to understand what I was going through

Then the doctor came and looked at the wound and said it could be steri stripped but I explained that I was allergic to them. They said that they would get the theatre nurse to come and have a look. I was surprised that this doctor was not wearing any PPE

A person came from DPM and made a statement as they walked in that they had seen me before. They sat down and asked me what had happened. I tried to explain that the cubicle was not very private and I had heard full details of other patients ailments so was reluctant to explain what had happened 

This staff member flippantly replied that the doctor was not going to treat my wound and I was to leave. They walked out 

I waited for another hour but no one came so I just left. My wound was open and bleeding. I was very suicidal and stood by the river instead of going home

The crisis team calmed me down and made sure I got home safely

I have spoken to a manager at DPM who is looking into this for me

However I had to wait until the next day when the District Nurses cleaned my wound and pulled it together

Today I am really unwell. My wound is badly infected and I have a temperature. My GP has just given me some antibiotics

If the staff at A&E had cleaned my wound and dressed it then I feel that I would not be so poorly now.

They showed no care for my well-being

The wound is red and swollen with the redness tracking from the wound and I am concerned that I could get sepsis as I have had this in the past

I want to know why my wound wasn’t cleaned and why the doctor told the DPM professional to send me home

In the future I am unlikely to go to A&E for support when I am struggling or when I have hurt myself

My psychiatric team are visiting me daily and have been amazing 

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Responses

Response from Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust 3 years ago
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

Submitted on 19/05/2020 at 13:21
Published on Care Opinion at 16:58

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I have read your feedback and I am concerned about the events that you have described. I am sorry for the impact this has had on your confidence in our Emergency Department. This is not the standard of care we would want for any of our patients and I would really like the opportunity to look into this further on your behalf.

Please contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) on 0800 183 0204 or email PALS@nuh.nhs.uk. PALS will take some further information from you that will help us better understand what happened. Alternatively, you can also speak with POhWER Advocacy Services to support you in contacting our Complaints and PALS Team, you can call them on 0300 456 2370 or email pohwer@pohwer.net.

I am glad that you continue to be well supported by the Psychiatric Team and your GP. Please remember that there are many services here to help you with your emotional, mental health and well-being and that you are not alone.

I look forward to hearing from you soon so that we can learn from your experience in our services to prevent a similar situation from happening again. I also hope that we will be able to restore your confidence in our services, so that you will want to access us for support in the future if you need this.

With best wishes

Clare Mayfield
Matron, Emergency Department

Response from Olufemi Ogundipe, Team Leader, RRLP AMH/NUH, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 3 years ago
Olufemi Ogundipe
Team Leader, RRLP AMH/NUH,
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 19/05/2020 at 18:04
Published on Care Opinion on 20/05/2020 at 09:26

Hi 'MadPerson',

Firstly, we're sorry to hear that you were (perhaps still are) struggling with your mental health at the moment. We can understand why making the decision to attend A&E for treatment while shielding was a difficult one, and we apologise that your experience once there was not good.

We're glad that the first nurse you saw was so compassionate, but sorry that you didn't find this to be the case with everyone. We understand the nurse in charge explained that your wound didn’t require treatment, and that it simply needed to be kept clean. Our DPM staff member acknowledged that they had met you before, not meaning this with any judgement but as a way to build rapport – we’re sorry that this was not how it was received.

Current circumstances mean that our DPM assessment rooms are not in use, due to social distancing measures, so we are temporarily conducting assessments in the ED cubicles. We acknowledge that this is not ideal for privacy, and we can understand why you felt uncomfortable discussing personal details with the risk of others overhearing your conversation. We will consider whether there is anything we can do to alleviate this worry for others, we know that it’s not the best place to conduct an assessment and as soon as it is safe to do so, we will return to our assessment rooms which afford us all more privacy.

We hope you are feeling better. We’re very sorry that this recent experience was not a positive one, but we have heard your feedback and will use it to improve what we do.

Just also to say that we understand why you might feel reluctant to go back to A&E if you need their help in the future, but please don't let this experience prevent you from getting the help you need.

We hope you are starting to feel better, with the help of the psychiatric team.
Olufemi - Clinical Team Leader, DPM, Nottinghamshire Healthcare

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by madperson (a service user)

The nurse in charge did not tell me that the wound did not need treatment but needed to be kept clean - the person from DPM said that

The doctor said that they would get the theatre nurse to look at it for me and as I left without it being cleaned until the next day then it got a nasty infection which required antibiotics

we have talked about how I felt during this encounter and how unhappy I was about it - it seems that this is the second time this person has sent me home from A@E confused, upset and mentally vulnerable and unwell

I thought that our conversation had cleared this up but your response makes me out to be unstable and not able to read situations properly

I hold down a professional job and know exactly how to interact etc and I don’t like the tone of your reply

I will be contacting PALS

Response from Team Leader, RRLP AMH/NUH, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 3 years ago
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 21/05/2020 at 16:06
Published on Care Opinion on 22/05/2020 at 10:29

Hi 'MadPerson'

I apologise that my response didn’t help to reassure you, however, your feedback had been taken seriously. I hope your future experience of psychiatry support at ED would be more positive. I would be happy to be cooperative with PALS to investigate the case and address anything that needs sorting.

Olufemi -Team Leader, DPM, Nottinghamshire Healthcare.

Update posted by madperson (a service user)

Today I was contacted by a Sister in charge at A& E. She took time and genuine care and concern to go over my recent experience. I really appreciated the fact that she listened to me and gave me constructive feedback. She assured me that she would pass my concerns regarding my treatment to her team and we talked about a positive plan to move forward. I feel more confident to be able to access the service again.

Response from Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 3 years ago
We have made a change
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 22/01/2021 at 13:25
Published on Care Opinion at 14:16

Hi 'MadPerson'

We have now returned to our assessment rooms within the Emergency Department in line with social distancing measures, which will ensure more privacy.

Olufemi - Clinical Team Leader, DPM, Nottinghamshire Healthcare

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