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Distressing time

Story from nhs.uk

"Distressing time"

About: Russells Hall Hospital

My mom was sent by ambulance from a re-habilitation care home after she broke both her wrists - with a suspected heart attack - she is nearly 88 years old, partially sighted and dissabled. She was taken to A & E on the recommendation of the ambulance crew, upon arrival she was taken through following an E.C.G and discharged to GP referal within 15minutes (no time at all to do any proper tests) the GP would not pass her for discharge and said she had to go through A &E again and the correct tests done this time, she was left for a long time in a cold reception area before being called back into the A & E area to be seen by another doctor then transfered to the assessment unit, she was left in a very cold cubicle all night fully clothed and clearly very distressed when I returned the following morning, before being transfered to a ward the following day - this was the most distressing time for my mom and for us to have to deal with - I just hope non of m faily is sent to Russells Hall A & E in the future following this experience. I must add that on this day A & E was not very busy,when I counted the people waiting to go through the system there was just 8 and most of the cubicles were empty.

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Responses

Response from Russells Hall Hospital 9 years ago
Russells Hall Hospital

Submitted on 10/02/2015 at 14:48
Published on nhs.uk on 11/02/2015 at 00:01

Thank you for taking the time to let us know about your mom’s visit to our Emergency Department and Emergency Assessment Unit. We are very sorry to hear that you were so disappointed with your mom’s experience of our hospital and we are grateful that you have brought it to our attention. We have recently introduced the GP service into our Emergency Department to try to improve the assessment process for patients and our A&E team work very closely with our GP colleagues to give patients the best and most appropriate care. It would normally be the case that, if the GP decides a patient needs to be treated in A&E, he/she would discuss this with the A&E team and the patient would then be seen by the next available doctor in the Emergency Department. We are sorry if this was not the case during your mom’s visit and we will certainly discuss this with the GP service in our meetings. We are sorry to hear that your mom felt cold overnight on our Emergency Assessment Unit. We do aim to keep our inpatient areas at a comfortable temperature for patients and we do have extra blankets and sheets available if patients are cold. We are really sorry that on this occasion we did not address your mom’s needs and she was cold – this should not have happened and we will raise this with our staff. It is difficult to comment further on your mom’s visit without knowing her details and reviewing her medical notes. We would appreciate the opportunity to learn from her experience and find out how we can improve the system and so we would encourage you to get in touch with our matron for this area on (01384) 456111 extension 2162 to arrange a meeting. Alternatively, you can contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) team on 0800 073 0510 who will be happy to arrange this on your behalf.

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