I had to take my 8 year old son to A&E yesterday after he fell and split his chin open. We were in and out in 1 1/4 hours which was brilliant. The clinical staff were lovely, very friendly and explained what was happening to me and to my son. However, out of the three clinicians that we saw, only one introduced himself by name (a triage nurse). The doctor was wonderful but as they didn't tell me their name, I can't compliment them personally. This doctor made jokes and sang whilst they were examining my son which really put a very scared little boy at ease. The nurse who glued his chin was also very kind but didn't introduce them self either. It makes a bit of a mockery of the "hello my name is..." campaign. I was extremely disappointed by the A&E receptionist who was on duty when we arrived (16.45 on 16th July). I have never been to A&E before so didn't know exactly what to do. I was waiting by the desk whilst the person in front was being dealt with. The receptionist got up from the desk and without making eye contact just told me to stand way from the desk in an abrupt manner. When they came back and I was booking my son in, they again made no eye contact and was generally quite rude, dismissive and uncaring just asking for the details with absolutely no explanation of what to expect. I felt very much like we were just another name and number on a piece of paper that they had to fill in. I am just thankful that I am an experienced nurse and so I was quite calm about my son's accident. Had it been any more serious, or if I was in a distressed state, this attitude would have been devastating. I appreciate that receptionists have a difficult job being the first contact in a department, however the uncaring attitude left me feeling very concerned about how my son was going to be treated. It isn't difficult to greet people with a smile and would have made my experience a lot better.
"Children's A&E"
About: Medway Maritime Hospital Medway Maritime Hospital Gillingham ME7 5NY
Posted via nhs.uk
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