"And this is what I pay my taxes for?"

Thank you, Jude, for taking the time to let us know about your visit to our hospital. We appreciate how worrying and stressful it can be when having to bring a young child into hospital and so we are very sorry if you were unimpressed by the service you received. We always strive to provide the highest standard of care and apologise if, on this occasion, you feel our standards fell short of those we aim to provide. Because of the nature of an A&E Department, it is impossible to gauge how many patients will arrive at the hospital and so at times the department can get extremely busy meaning patients have to wait longer than we would like. 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 and those with the most serious injuries who must be given priority can be seen first. We have passed your comments onto the members of staff in charge of our A&E Department; however, if you would like to take the issues you have raised further you can contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) on free phone 0800 073 0510.