"ED get your act together"

Dear Anonymous

Thank you for sharing your story and I am very sorry for the problems you have experienced. We would like the opportunity to discuss this with you further and ask if you can call the Patient Engagement and Experience Team on 01392 402093 or 402071.

Kind regards

Tracy

Dear Anonymous

1. We acknowledge that this has been something that has been an on-going issue and we apologise for this. However, a new system is due for installation shortly which will enable us to provide information regarding waiting times.

2. There is a childrens playroom/waiting area in the waiting room. This has toilet facilities, toys for children and is situated slightly away from the main area with a door that can be closed. Once in the clinical area of the Emergency Department then as per guidelines there are rooms especially for paediatric patients and we have the paediatric assessment unit as a separate but parallel area for children. The resuscitation room also has a designated paediatric bay. However, it is not clear whether the child mentioned here is actually the patient or is accompanying the adult who has raised these concerns.

3. The doors through to the minors area used to be locked at all times due to security concerns. However, the doors were repeatedly vandalised by patients and relatives by means of the glass inserts being kicked in and as a result the doors are now unlocked. Push signs have been put in place but despite this people still think that they are automatic doors or require a buzz in and still hammer at the door. It was originally planned that the doors would be locked from 8pm -8am but this often does not happen. As this was posted anonymously I don't know what time the complainant was in the department but we will be putting up further signs that advise that the doors are open and not locked. We would like to thank you for bringing this to our attention.

4. Nurses at triage are limited to medications that can be given out without a doctors prescription. If it had been made clear that the analgesia taken hadn't worked then we could have offered to get a doctor to prescribe further analgesia. This is an option that can be explored and acted upon but is normally reviewed on a case by case basis. In the absence of the full information that would have enabled me to give a fully rounded answer I can only apologise if this was an omission.

5. We acknowledge that the patient is often caught in the middle when trying to access care but we unfortunately have no jurisdiction over the provision of staff in primary care.

6. Thank you for your suggestion of getting a clock. We will certainly be looking at getting a clock put up in this area.

Acting senior Nurse

ED/AMU