"NOTHING! My 84 year old father ..."

What I liked

NOTHING!

My 84 year old father was brought in after a 999 call on 27 Dec at about 11pm. He was kept in the A&E assessment until about 4am, then transferred to to Medical Assessment unit. There was no bed available so he was kept in the corridor until after 9am. During all those hours, he was never asked how he felt, whether he wanred a drink or not, etc. After being seen by a doctor he was treated very well and is hopefully on the road to recovery. The time taken to see him and the lack of care during that long, long night was appaling and even thought they were "extra busy" that night surely one of the main functions of hospital staff is to check on the wellbeing of their patients. I was fobbed-off several times when I asked what was going on, told e.t.a.s that bore no resemblance to reality, and really got the feeling that no-one could give a toss.

What could be improved

Everything. Information given was either non-existant or hopelessly optimistic. No interest was shown in my father's well being, and to keep someone of 84 in a casualty cubicle the corridor for over 11 hours is nothing short of scandalous.

I will repeat that once the the hospital "came to life" at about 9:30 things changed dramatically and the service was adequate. However that does not make up for the disgraceful lack of overnight care.

Anything else?

Lessons should be learnt. I am sure there were many patients in a similar position on the night in question. The uncertainty due to lack of comunication / lnowledge should be addressed and patients should be kept aware of the situation. If I had have known that the wait would have been so long I could have taken my father to Calais, where he would have been seen far more quickly, in cleaner, more professional surroundings, and probably have received superior treatment from a first-world country.