"Mixed experience at The Royal London whilst suffering chest pains"

I was suffering from chest pains and shortness of breath during a client meeting and after it was over I asked my colleagues to take me to hospital (initially by ambulance, which we cancelled after we spotted a taxi and knowing how close the hospital was to our location). I spent next several hours at the Royal London Hospital A&E which was a mixed experience.

The healthcare assistant was really nice - the doctor I eventually saw was really good and explained things to me well and didn't treat me like an idiot as so often happens. What I really liked about his treatment was his explaining when I should pursue further treatment at A&E (I already had a GP appt booked for the following day).

But the reception was awful. Because I had chest pains I thought I'd be triaged quickly. I wasn't. It was dirty, noisy and disorganised. Staff seemed distant. My colleagues were told to physically track down a triage nurse.

There was some kind of bodily fluid on the floor which had simply had an incontinence pad thrown down on it. The environment was much nicer on the other side - though a bit more signage wouldn't have hurt - it's labyrinthine!