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Care Opinion

Staff attitude

Posted By jrey286

"Staff attitude"

About: The Ulster Hospital / Emergency Department

(as a relative),

I went Ulster Hospital A&E department to accompany my Mum who has dementia, she had been very poorly with it. When we arrived I asked if I was able to accompany my mum into the hospital due to her condition and the fact she would feel confused. I was allowed in with her due to her vulnerability.

Once inside I was asked by a nurse to wait outside and to get off a chair. I informed her that I had been allowed in with my mum and the nurse then said well if we get busy you might be sent out. I was shocked at the attitude we encountered from this staff member and lack of understanding around patients needing family with them who are vulnerable.

We sat waiting for over 6 hours and not once were either of us offered a drink. My mum is diabetic so I asked another nurse if she could have a cup of tea she said we could but then we never received it. I was advised to put in a complaint but feel like this will not get anything done.

My concerns are around the way we were dealt with and the staff attitude, there were other patients who had 2 family members with them. I understand we are in an unusual time during the Covid-19 outbreak but I feel like we are coming into recovery from it now and that Covid is being used as an excuse to turn people away. Patients who are vulnerable need a family member with them. If I had been sent outside my, mum would have been left all alone and been confused.

I'm not one for complaining but I really feel strongly about this issue.

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Responses

Response from Jennifer Nicholson, Lead Nurse - Emergency Care, Emergency Medicine - A&E, South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust 3 years ago
Jennifer Nicholson
Lead Nurse - Emergency Care, Emergency Medicine - A&E,
South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust

Submitted on 12/08/2020 at 19:27
Published on Care Opinion on 13/08/2020 at 09:29

Hi jrey286

Thank you for providing feedback about your experience while attending ED with your mum. We welcome feedback as a way to help us improve our service. I am disappointed to hear it was not a positive experience for you.

We take our guidance from the Public Health which is to continue to limit the number of relatives in the Emergency Department. It is difficult to maintain social distancing in the ED setting and we need to protect patients and staff as there is still a risk from Covid-19 spread. Each patient and family is treated as an individual and their circumstances are taken into account, on occasions it may be appropriate to have 2 visitors but this is closely monitored.

I wish to apologise for the attitude of the staff member who spoke with you. This is not what we would expect from our staff. I will remind staff in the our daily safety briefings about the importance of being professional in their interactions with patients and families.

Can I also apologise that your mum did not receive a cup of tea when you asked for it. Again this is something we will raise in the daily safety briefs with staff.


Again, thank you for sharing your concerns and wish to assure you we will learn from them.

I hope your mum is improving and wish you both well.

Kind regards

Jenny

Interim Lead Nurse ED

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

Update posted by jrey286 (a relative)

Hi Jenny,

I explained that as I am disabled and was unable to push the chair that my Mum (which the hospital had provided) was in and this did not make a difference. My Mum who wasn't even well asked on two occasions for someone to help us with the chair and was ignored. So in this instance, I believe that we should have been appropriate to have been allowed two people in? And yes, you are right this is not the attitude that one would expect from your staff. I have been in Ulster on a few occasions and my Mother has been treated with both respect and as a human being, but not on our last visit!

I would sincerely hope that this will experience will never be repeated for another elderly person!

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