"A&E Department"

On holiday last week I woke up on the second day with what I believed to be a trapped nerve in my neck,so after a late flight back I decided to visit A&E for confirmation.I was seen by a person whom I presumed was a junior doctor but because they had no name tag I hadn't a clue who they were? I explained my symptoms and my previous history regarding my neck.I was repeatedly asked if I had had a fall and if my bladder and bowels were okay and it was possibly a soft tissue injury. Eventually they told me they would speak to their colleagues and check my records and asked me to return to the waiting area. After a while they called me back to a cubicle and told me they had spoken to a physiotherapist who without seeing me and examining me diagnosed a trapped nerve? I appreciate the fact they asked a colleague for an opinion but I could not understand why after all the symptoms I described thye needed to speak to someone else if they were a duty doctor?

We did speak about pain relief and they gave me a prescription to take to the pharmacy. I felt the doctor themself lacked confidence and needed reassurance in making a diagnosis. The service at the pharmacy was extremely slow and other patients were complaining that although the medications had been dispensed they were waiting to be checked. When I left my prescription I asked how long it would take to be dispensed and was told 10-15 minutes so I said I would go for a coffee.Later when I went to collect the medication I was told it was waiting to be checked,so taking a seat in the what was by now a crowded area I waited patiently for my painkillers.I sat there for a further 25 minutes. I do not know if a pharmacist was not present in the dispensary but there was a person there whom I rightly or wrongly presumed was the pharmacist.

If they were indeed the duty pharmacist it was unreasonable that all the baskets were lined up and left for checking when they should have been checked and handed out to the patients after they had been dispensed and not left on a counter top with patients getting frustrated because they could see their medication but couldn't access until somebody handed them out. I appreciate the dispensary probably deal with medications for the wards, but patients who have more than likely waited a long time in clinic get frustrated that they then have a long wait at the pharmacy. It also adds to the cost of the expensive parking fees.