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A&E was disappointing

Posted By Elsfk75

"A&E was disappointing"

About: Craigavon Area Hospital / 4 North Surgical Craigavon Area Hospital / Emergency Department

(as a staff member posting for a carer/relative),

A&E was disappointing. I attended an appointment on Monday and then received a phone call late in the evening on Tuesday stating I must go to A&E immediately as my blood results are back and I need emergency treatment. I arrived at A&E the staff member in triage that was doing the covid tests was rude and asked me why I had a bag. I explained and they said that all patients had an emergency and I would have to wait at least 13 hours to be seen. I explained to the nurse in triage and they said they would speak with the doctor. I did have to wait in the waiting area for 4 hours before being seen by the doctor. I don’t understand why I was rushed out of bed late at night due to medical emergency but then not treated when I arrived.

I was then transferred to 4 North and the care is good but the room is cramped. There are 3 patients in a double side room. I would like to improve wait times.

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Responses

Response from Paul Smyth, Interim Head of Service Emergency Departments, Acute & Emergency Medicine, Southern Health and Social Care Trust 2 years ago
Paul Smyth
Interim Head of Service Emergency Departments, Acute & Emergency Medicine,
Southern Health and Social Care Trust

Submitted on 16/11/2021 at 15:58
Published on Care Opinion at 15:58

Dear Elsfk75 - Thank you so much for providing this feedback. We would apologize for the delay in you being assessed. Unfortunately the emergency department has been regularly overcrowded this last few months. there are significant numbers of patients delayed in the ED waiting on admission beds. this leaves us with limited cubicle space. it also means the nursing team have to care for the needs of patients with delayed admission as well as new attendees. The Hospital team are working hard to improve the flow of admissions out of the ED which will enable us to see new attendees more promptly. when you arrived it is very likely there were a large number of emergency patients waiting on assessment. The triage staff allocate people attending a priority and this should have been explained to you. I apologize if the staff doing the covid testing were rude there would be no excuse for this. I will speak to the team and remind them the importance of being courteous.

Best wishes

Paul Smyth

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