"Deplorable conditions at A and E,"

I should add to the previous comments that I am the husband of the lady who submitted the comments. She is 80 and was so ill on that morning that I took her to her doctor without an appointment rather than bother A and E - a mistake. Her doctor examined her thoroughly and diagnosed what was wrong and said she had to go to hospital right away and he would ring the hospital and gave us a letter detailing what was the matter. We waited ages before being called in to be 'interviewed' and the nurse who saw us was most offhand and said my wife probably had the nova virus and was determined to try and keep her out of the hospital if at all possible. She had just glanced at the letter from the doctor and never even looked at her where she could have seen what was wrong. She also told us that our doctor could not tell the hospital to admit her as it was up to her and the hospital. I told her that I was far from satisfied with her attitude. We were told to wait outside and my wife was feeling worse and eventually we were seen by a very caring male nurse who was very concerned about her and said he would try and get a doctor to see her as soon as possible. Back to the waiting room again and then my wife collapsed and someone went to get a bottle of water from the machine which was broken ( see a previous comment) and someone went to the window of the A and E reception and asked for a glass of water only to be told that they are not allowed to give out water. I knocked on one of the doors asking for help and was told a Triage nurse would come out - we were called in and once again were treated in a very offhand manner and I said I wouid have to report her and what was going on in the A and E department. A lady doctor then arrived and what a difference - very caring and concerned and carried out a thorough investigation and did visit her several times to see how she was feeling. My wife was after several hours put on a trolley in a corridor and the Triage Nurse was there and realised that my wife was not well and did give her an injection to relieve the sickness and her attitude was totally different to earlier. The nurses and doctors are under huge pressure and this is far from the first time this chaos takes place and yet nothing seems to change when there are additional pressures on A and E. A very cheerful nurse from cheered us up by her singing despite the constant demands on her. I would like to thank these these two nurses and the doctor and many others who were expressing sympathy for the stress we were under. I am 82 and got very tired having to stand so much and I managed to find one shop open about 4 where I could buy something to eat not having eaten since 7.30. I will be writing to the Chief Executive and Jeremy Hunt. We have found over the recent years that the standard of care given by the nurses has greatly improved.