"A&E visit"

I called 111 at the end of October and was advised to go to my local A&E department for severe upper abdominal pain. I arrived at FVRH A&E around 12:45am and was told it could be up to a 6 hour wait. 

I was seen by Kirsten in triage at around 2:00 am who gave me pain relief straightaway and said she would speak to the on call surgeon to see if they could come down to A&E to see me rather than me having to go via the A&E doctors. The surgeon, I think her name was Ellen, came down and explained she suspected I had gallstones and would refer me for an ultrasound later that morning. She gave me an appointment time of 10:30 for the ultrasound then 11:30 to see a consultant. I left the A&E dept with pain relief around 4:10am so no where near the 6 hour wait I was quoted. 

When I arrived at the hospital this morning I was taken for the ultrasound straightaway and then saw the consultant quickly after that. I actually left the hospital before 11:30!

Every single member of staff I interacted with from A&E to the ultrasound dept and the consultant were incredible. Everyone went out of their way to make me comfortable and get me the care I needed as quickly as possible. You read so many bad stories about A&E depts and wait times but I had a great experience and wanted to highlight and thank all of the staff for doing such a great job. It didn’t go unnoticed.