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Horrendous experience from start to finish

Posted By Susie1277

"Horrendous experience from start to finish"

About: Royal Victoria Hospital / Accident & Emergency

(as a service user),

Attending the emergency department RVH today for the second time in three days. My 19 year old has had severe abdominal pain and hospital was the very last resort! The experience from start to finish was horrendous.

I know these are days of truly awful pressures on NHS staff but at every step of the journey my daughter was ignored and dismissed and finally sent home with still no answers or plan of care . Disappointed and disgusted in equal measure at the lack of basic humanity and courtesy to human beings! Yes they are under terrible stresses but to be made to feel as if you are unwelcome time waster when you are a rare user of the service was very upsetting.

Second visit today same treatment dismissed ignored and treated with a tinge of contempt despite only returning as there were no other options and GP could not help. After waiting a short time and being treated in this manner I decided to pay for a private consultation within the private sector. Hopefully she will be treated with a little more dignity and not made to feel like a burden on society!

I want to also add she was in severe pain but never asked what her pain level was then I read on her notes it was mild and a 4 on the pain score! The patient wasn't asked!

I am a registered nurse working in another area and if I ever treat my patients the way my daughter was treated by several members of the ED staff I would know it was time to leave the profession. I cannot tell you how upsetting I have found this whole process today. Shocked and dismayed don’t even begin to cover it….

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Responses

Response from Linsey Sheerin, Divisional Nurse, Urgent and Emergency Care, Emergency Care, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust 2 years ago
Linsey Sheerin
Divisional Nurse, Urgent and Emergency Care, Emergency Care,
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust

Submitted on 19/03/2022 at 08:59
Published on Care Opinion at 08:59

Dear Susie1277,

My name is Linsey Sheerin, I am the Service Manager for Urgent and Emergency Care in Belfast Trust. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience on Care Opinion, I am saddened to read of your daughters poor experience of our service. I would really like the opportunity to discuss this with you further, if this is something you would want please contact me at Linsey.sheerin@belfasttrust.hscni.net and I will arrange telephone call.

I sincerely hope your daughter is currently well and receiving the care she needs.

Linsey

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Response from Linsey Sheerin, Divisional Nurse, Urgent and Emergency Care, Emergency Care, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust 2 years ago
Linsey Sheerin
Divisional Nurse, Urgent and Emergency Care, Emergency Care,
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust

Submitted on 21/03/2022 at 15:40
Published on Care Opinion at 15:40

Dear Susie1277,

Thank you for making contact with me to discuss your daughters experiences having attended our service on a number of occasions. There are a number of areas where we did not get it right including, communication, our interactions with patients and their families and management of pain. I will be discussing your daughters experience at our team meetings, highlighting the simple things mean so much to patients and their families, such as eye contact, a warm smile and information on waiting times.

I want to assure you that effective pain management is given a high priority as part of our department’s clinical standards and we will continue to audit our performance in pain management, include specific questions related to management of pain via patient surveys and ensure staff training continues to focus on timely and effective pain control.

I hope your daughter remains in good health

Best Wishes

Linsey

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