"A&E 20/8 if you have a choice go elsewhere!"

Anything else?

The visit was a referral from my GP, I handed over his letter and was told to book in on a self serve screen. I had been dropped off whilst my husband parked the car as I cannot walk more than a short distance. The self check-in is difficult to use for anyone that is ill even if they are used to computers! What a ridiculous idea, anyone elderly would be baffled. Is this a health service or a supermarket? The visit to be given the antibiotics and other drugs my GP had said I would need took over 6 hours. Even though my GP had checked my vitals and sent a record of them they were repeated several more times. My GP sent me for a chest x-ray this was carried out about 3 hours after I arrived, it then took another two hours to see a doctor in AAU to tell me the diagnosis my GP had already given. By which time I was in extreme pain and as I am allergic to certain drugs I had not been provided with the alternatives I have had before because the A&E dept said they didn't stock them! I eventually was given some pain relief after my husbands insistence and was told to relax. Not easy when you cannot breath! The hospital is clearly experiencing a renovation, the A&E is finished, butbhe toilets were disgusting one covered in excrement. AAU is probably little changed in 20 years it was scruffy and dirty, the waiting room too small with not enough seats. People left waiting for hours with no idea when they would be seen. An elderley patient with no one to advocate for them could quite easily be forgotten. I was asked to lay on a bed which was covered in a sheet another patient had clearly laid on and when I queried this the sheet was removed and was made to lay on a bed with no cover, I felt so ill I just wanted examining my prescription writing and to go home. The room needed dirty cups removing and a general clean of all surfaces and there was a tray with used packets for sharps and empty syringe ampoules. The tray also had blood on it. Hygiene control? I returned two nights later and it got worse! Most of the staff were doing their best but they need someone organising them and the rooms that is not dealing with patients, if this is August avoid in winter!