"Unable to contact A & E"

About: Craigavon Area Hospital / Emergency Department Craigavon Area Hospital Emergency Department BT63 5QQ

Posted by kels0787 (as a relative), 3 years ago

My Granny was brought to hospital via ambulance at 11:00 am on Monday with chest pain. We weren't allowed to travel with her or meet her in A&E, so she was there alone, confused and unwell at 84 yrs old.
Myself and other family members tried dozens of times from 12:00 noon on Monday until 11:00 pm on Tuesday to get through to the A&E department to get an update on her health. It took 35 hours before the phone was answered and we got to speak to a nurse. For that whole time she was on a trolley in A&E. I am her next of kin and no one contacted me in that time frame to give me an update on my Grannys health. I find that unacceptable. Given the fact that we were unable to visit, a phone call should have been made to inform us of what was going on.

More about:

Do you have a similar story to tell?

Responses

Elsie McCready

Admin Services Manager SCHD, Children, Young People and Women's Services Directorate,

Southern Health and Social Care Trust

Submitted on 25/04/2022 at 13:29

Published on Care Opinion at 14:22

Dear kels0787 - I firstly want to apologise for my delay in responding as have been off work for a few days but have read your story above and have forwarded this on to the Head of Service and Lead Nurse for Emergency Department CAH. I would like to also apologise that contact was not made to your family regarding your granny's care during this time.
Kind regards
Elsie McCready
Project Manager/Patient Liaison (Care Opinion)
Tel: 07825780700

{{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Was this response helpful? Yes | No
Thank you for your feedback.
See more responses from Elsie McCready

Elsie McCready

Admin Services Manager SCHD, Children, Young People and Women's Services Directorate,

Southern Health and Social Care Trust

Submitted on 27/04/2022 at 12:23

Published on Care Opinion at 12:23

Dear kels0787 - following on from my previous response can I ask you to contact me to establish which phone number/area you were ringing so I can discuss with the administrative manager for Emergency Dept.
Kind regards
Elsie McCready - Care Opinion Pilot Project Manager
07825780700

{{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Was this response helpful? Yes | No
Thank you for your feedback.
See more responses from Elsie McCready

Paul Smyth

Head of Service Emergency Departments, Medicine and Unscheduled Care Directorate,

Southern Health and Social Care Trust

Submitted on 03/05/2022 at 11:57

Published on Care Opinion at 11:57

Dear kels0787 - thank you for providing this feedback and sorry for the delay in responding.
We apologise to you that as the next of kin you were not contacted with an update on what was happening to your grandmother, this must have been a very distressing time for you and your family. You had mentioned your grandmother was confused, we do allow a family member to remain with someone in the emergency department if they have confusion or a communication problem.
We have quite a few telephones in the department and I assure you staff do answer them, I am not sure what happened on this occasion.
I have shared your comments with the sister to remind our staff they must contact next of kin with an update. We hope your grandmother is recovering.
Kind Regards
Paul Smyth

{{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Was this response helpful? Yes | No
Thank you for your feedback.
See more responses from Paul Smyth

Navigation
Shortcut Help	?
Go to Home	g + h
Go to Tell Your Story	g + t
Go to About Us	g + a

Text size

Theme

Language

Unable to contact A & E

"Unable to contact A & E"

Responses

Keyboard Shortcuts

Opinions
Next Response	j
Previous Response	k