"Shocking"

I very rarely seek health care for myself. The symptoms would have to be pretty serious for me to attend A&E. I spent the night and the early hours of the morning vomiting. I attended this morning and the waiting area appeared empty. When my observations were taken it was implied that I should have gone to my GP and not bothered seeking urgent medical care. This was extremely patronising as I felt I needed urgent help and had to be driven to A&E. Apparently there was no out of hours GP available and I was informed that it would be at least a 3 hour wait. There were a total of no more than two patients in the A&E waiting area including myself, all I could see were rows of empty seats. This was certainly not a busy period so I can not for the life of me understand how this justifies a 3 hour wait. I shudder to think how the staff would cope if there were three or may be four patients in the waiting area. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for doctors and nurses on the front line, I am however shocked at how poorly managed a quiet A&E waiting area is run. Management at this hospital need to start treating patients with alittle respect and dignity. It's wrong not to expect people to seek health care because of fear of a poor service.