"Attitude of nursing staff under expectation"

I unfortunately had to visit Queen Elizabeth Hospital accident and emergency in Woolwich last week and had a mixed response to the service.

I waited 2.5 hours to see a doctor (I believe it was a doctor, but he didn't introduce himself) which was under the target of 4 hours. I entered the A&E at midnight and was advised as to the waiting times and the department was not particularly busy.

The receptionist and radiologist were very efficient, friendly and helpful, however I found some of the other staff members were not welcoming or helpful.

The first most concerning incident was when a nurse came through to the waiting area, calling for a woman who was in a wheelchair next to me. I pointed out that she couldn't walk well and had suffered a suspected heart attack, to which I felt he was very rude, tutted and came to wheel her through to the main area seeming to me much disgruntled that he had to do so. It is to be hoped that he had a better idea of her condition than I at that point, but in my opinion apparently not.

The second incident was on entering the treatment area (having not had my complaint examined, except a cursory glance by the offhand triage nurse) there were patient notes on the computer screen, detailing the illnesses and waiting times of those waiting to be seen. I pointed this out to the attending staff and they apologised and closed the screen. This leaves for me somewhat to be desired regarding patient confidentiality.

Overall, my patient experience was not positive and I was left feeling that the attitude of some of the nursing staff in particular was under expectation.