"The time we were left waiting ..."

What could be improved

The time we were left waiting to see a doctor in A and E.

My 75 year old dad who was in agony was taken to Pontefract and was a major case to be seen, waited 2 hours to see a doctor. After asking the nurses several times if i could get him a drink (as the heating was stuck on in the A and E and it was red hot outside) or some pain relief and being told no, the doctor gave him some as soon as he arrived before even asking any questions.

Once on the ward he was admitted, i spoke to the nurses each night i visited and was not told very much information. During his stay he recieved appointments for two hospitals in Leeds and one at pinderfields. I gave this inforamation to the nurses and was told not to worry about them that if he was still in they would arrange for him to go to them.

i checked in with them over the weekend regards the appointments to be told they may be discharging him so they could not say what was happening but if he was staying in they would arrange transport.

Called the hospital Monday morning to be told doctor had not seen him but they would know more around dinner time. called again at dinner time to be told he was staying in and appointments would be sorted through the hospital. We did not recieve any calls from any one that day but when we visited my dad he said he'd been told by the nurses that he would have to sort out some transport for his appointments at Leeds as there were no ambulances available.

No explanation from the staff just a message passed on through my dad. After the appointment though he would return to the hospital and be kept in. Is this legal? is he not the responsibility of the hospital if he has been admitted? i will be seeking advice about this. but what has bothered me most is that he needs to attend these appointments but the staff have not even bothered to contact us at any point to let us know any of this just left it to my dad who is in there because he is ill, he doesnt need these extras worries.

Anything else?

i do have to say the doctor in A and E was good and acted quickley to get him assessed and admitted on to a ward once he was seen.

Very disappointed with the lack of information once on the ward and the fact that no one saw fit to at least contact us and let us know earlier that they would not be taking him for his appointments. As we had already left work for the day we then had to go to work the morning of the appointment and try and arrange time off to provide transport.

i have no problem taking my dad to his appointments but i feel it was handled badly by the staff.