"We deserve an adequate A&E facility."

10 days after receiving fantastic care at King George's Hospital in the same NHS trust I had the misfortune following major surgery to have to be transported by ambulance with a potentially serious complication of surgery to Queens A&E. I had not referred myself but had as part of my care been visited by community the COPE team who thought I may have a potential life threatening DVT and a Pulmonary Embolism as I had both deep calf pain and pain in my chest. The ambulance attended promptly and was I was conveyed to Queens. On arrival there was a serious queue of patients on trolleys awaiting to be clerked in and to allow the crew to get back onto the road to assist other life threatening conditions. I then began the long wait to be seen having been placed in a wheelchair in the very small waiting room along with numerous other patients who by now were spilling into the corridor. For five hours I waited for the doctor to decide if DVT was my problem the blood results indicated that it was very likely. I was given some anticoagulant and asked to return the following day for a scan on my leg. Nothing was implemented to exclude a possible embolism. The following day having had the scan I was asked by the nurse to go back to A&E to check the lungs. I was seen quickly by the GP Triage who asked for X ray and to be seen by the medical team. I waited another five hours and was told that the medics were busy and they could not tell me how long I would have to wait. I felt uncomfortable sitting in a wheelchair increasing the risk of clotting and decided to go home and take my chances. I would call an ambulance if symptoms worsened. This is unsatisfactory. The truth of the delays is an inadequate facility for a too large population. The doctors and nursing staff were working as hard as they could. It is not fair on either the staff or the patients for such a deplorable inadequate provision in this very busy department