"Emergency department visit felt grim"

After recent phone/online consultations and advice from GP and other assorted 'health professionals', plus some in-person in recent weeks, I was finally persuaded and agreed to go Ulster Hospital ED/A&E due to severe pain and other symptoms hardly-shifted by prescribed painkillers and steadily worsening in intensity recently.

I limped-in, attendant on door directed me to a hand-sanitiser which didn't work the best; then to get booked-in, which was OK and, while busy, there were plenty of spare seats. I sat down, and triage nurse called me within 30 minutes, she was grand, and said I'd need blood tests, health assistant called me after about another 45 minutes, she was grand too. I anticipated a long, painful wait, so read bits and pieces and just observed the screens and goings-on around me - as you do.

I noticed how many assorted posters and notices there were about the place, often on A4 and not easy to read - including one for this website, which I noted - and some telling people 'no relatives allowed', which was/is understandable.

However, the longer I was there, the longer I realised that the practical impact of that was that there were very obviously a number of variously vulnerable people waiting in the reception area, some appearing lost and bewildered, and in some cases visibly quite distressed, with no one seemingly doing anything about it, and this grew worse as time went on.  It was also clear that such people had little or no way of knowing if doctors called their names inaudibly from a distance.

In warm summer weather, a drinks machine which many - most? - trying to use it seemed to be unsuccessful, feels inadequate when a simple drinking water font would seem like a basic provision for sick/injured people - even more with relatives/friends deterred. Dehydration risk surely?

As time went on, there was a feeling of a basically disorganised set-up with no one in charge and loads of people milling about, including more and more ambulance people and paramedics, and sick/old people looking very forlorn and lost. I felt so sorry for them but, apart from offering seats, I and others could not help. I don't think I saw a porter or anyone doing any portering over the several hours.

On the screen, I'd also noticed that 'ambulance arrivals in past hour' were now at Zero. I don't know if that was a good or a bad thing?

Thankfully, as I'd not eaten and avoided liquids, as abdominal pain on urinating was one of my symptoms, and I'd not done so since waking that day, plus wanted to be able to urinate if any sample needed later by a doctor, I did not use a toilet but couldn't avoid hearing lots of grumbles about same.

My eventual liaison with a doctor was a rapid-fire series of questions where I had to ask if I could be allowed time to actually answer them - including toilet problems, notably saying I'd not urinated since getting-up that day - which I don't think went down too well, and cursory exam, with instruction to insist on seeing my GP in person, an instruction which was repeated when I asked the doctor how to do that as a just a patient, which was met by something to the effect of 'do you know the way out OK?'.

That treatment area was actually quiet, unlike the waiting area, which was very busy as I gingerly exited and gently sat down on a step outside.

All in all, the experience was grim. I really feel for hard-working, hard-pressed nurses, assistants and junior doctors doing their best in such an environment, but also wondered if any actually complain or don't just organise and tell management they're not putting up with it anymore?  Who manages the place outside of the clinical area?

But I felt and feel most sorry for those vulnerable people left to their fate in such an environment with no one to speak up for them. It's beyond cruel.

PS: whatever happened to the modern, roomy new ED/A&E in the shiny new-build?