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"Lack of communication in A & E"

About: Darent Valley Hospital

I was sent to A & E after visiting an Urgent Care Centre earlier in the day. The nurse that I saw was adamant that I must go to A & E due to the symptoms I presented. I arrived and had a pre assessment very quickly and then things almost stopped. I was sent back to waiting room and was told there was a 2 hour wait.

Hardly anybody was being called in and everything was moving very slowly. I was called in after 5 hours to a messy and unprepared area to be seen. The doctor was not listening to what I was saying almost ignoring what we were saying. I was made to feel that I was wasting their time, even though I was told to come to A & E. After another 30 minutes waiting and watching an incredibly dis organised team of staff I was finally given some pain medicine and told to go back and wait without any reasoning why. After another 30 minutes and not been spoken to I had enough of this shambles and being made to feel like I was wasting their time. I discharged myself and I still very unwell and my confidence in the NHS has been shaken and I do not who I can go to to seek help about my illness. 7 hours wasted and still none the better. If I was not unwell enough in the eyes of the hospital to be giving any medical care the experience nurse practitioner that saw me at triage should have sent me away with advice, pain medicine at the start of the evening instead of making me sit and wait in a very uncomfortable environment and being made to feel like a burden.

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Responses

Response from Darent Valley Hospital 8 years ago
Darent Valley Hospital
Submitted on 04/01/2016 at 14:57
Published on nhs.uk on 05/01/2016 at 01:31


We were very sorry to read of how unhappy you were with our A&E Department and the time you spent waiting. On arrival at the department you would have been triaged and the urgency of your visit assessed and categoried. We fully appreciate that any wait can be annoying and that not seeing people being called in can add to the frustration. However, not seeing people being called, is usually an indication that the department is extremely busy dealing with patients being brought in via ambulances suffering from life threatening emergencies. Though this said, we fully appreciate that relaying messages to those in the waiting room would be helpful.

We are sorry that this long wait has affected your confidence in the NHS and if you would like us to look into your experience further please do not hesitate to contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALs) on 01322 428383 or email pals@dvh.nhs.uk who will investigate your concerns.

Kind regards

The Communications Team Darent Valley Hospital

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