"The trauma of Russell Hall hospital"

Thank you for taking the time to let us know about your visit to our A&E department. We are sorry you were not pleased by your experience and the time you waited for treatment. We aim to offer the best possible patient experience to all our patients and are sorry if we feel short of this standard on this occasion. In line with hospitals nationally, we aim to treat, admit or discharge all of our patients within four hours of arriving at A&E. Patients arriving in A&E are triaged and priority is given based on the nature and severity of their illness or injury. This means that our most poorly patients can be seen first. There is never an excuse for staff being disrespectful and we will ensure the team are made aware of your feedback so that we can learn lessons and improve the service we provide our patients and visitors. Infection control is a key priority for us and we would like to assure you that we carry out a number of audits to ensure cleanliness is maintained including weekly cleaning audits and matron rounds. Seats in the A&E waiting area are cleaned regularly and all our staff adhere to strict infection control policies and procedures. If patients have concerns around infection control, or any aspect of their care, we would urge them to speak to the nurse in charge at the time so that we can take immediate and appropriate action. However, we have passed on your observations to the A&E matron and head of Infection Control. If you would like us to look into the issues you have raised further, please contact the A&E matron’s secretary on 01384 456111 extension 2323. She will arrange for the lead nurse for the department to get in touch with you so you can discuss your experience in more detail.