"Left to get on with it in an alien environment"

My mother was referred for admission to the medical receiving unit at Monklands from Lanarkshire Beatson

There were no beds in the unit so she had ecg, bloods done and was sat on a wheelchair at the doorway of what appeared to be a staff station in accident and emergency.

She was on her own. My father had received a call to say she had taken unwell and we were very anxious en route. I'm trying to care for them both at the moment. It is a very stressful time as one might appreciate.

When my father and I arrived there was no acknowledgement from any of the staff that we were there. The nurses were quite adept at avoiding eye contact. My father is 86. After about 30 minutes of us both standing I decided to seize the opportunity when one nurse stopped looking otherwise engaged to ascertain what the plan for my mother was. I said she was tired, my dad was frail. She said there were no beds in the medical ward. My mum had to wait in A/E but she "wasn't their patient and the medical doctors were very busy. " I said again I felt she was very tired and if her results were available she would probably be better at home than sitting where she was. The nurse proceeded to ask " does she want to sign herself out then against medical advice? " She seemed rather ambivalent about the whole situation. I said we would of course like a review of the tests that had been done hours previously so that an informed decision could be made by my mother. She hadn't eaten or been offered a drink. Should I leave her confidently in a corridor doorway to fetch refreshments from the canteen? She was desperate for the toilet but didn't feel confident to get to one. I am annoyed to think of her sitting in discomfort had we not arrived.

I suggested we go to the waiting area. Somewhere my dad could at least get a seat.

At around 16: 15 another nurse came through to the waiting room and spoke to me in a small assessment room. She reiterated that my mother was a medical referral and not an A/E patient. She said her bloods were normal as was her ecg. Having discussed the situation with my mother earlier I said she would discharge AMA. The nurse was happy for me to sign my mother's form. She had no dialogue with my mother. On our way out I heard another nurse saying "Is that her away? "( My mother had no cognitive impairment but is no point in having 'John's Campaign ' posters up if patients and relatives are going to be left to get on with it in an alien environment and staff are going to avoid responsibility at all cost. )

My mother had complained of chest pain which had resolved. She is halfway through radiotherapy and is as a result exhausted. She has lung cancer in both lungs.

Yesterday she experienced polar extremes in staff attitudes and approach. From the Beatson where people are made so very welcome and reassured by all the staff to the A/E department where she seemed no more than an unwelcome obstacle, sitting in the main thoroughfare. She was flustered and exhausted. Police going back and forth with their charges. Paramedics giving handovers. Talk of a phone call about an outbreak of infection somewhere and "had Infectious diseases been informed? Public Health had been advised....." ( This could have been something or nothing but that is the danger of sitting people in earshot of staff).

We appreciate the hospital is undergoing much needed building work and that the static environments of the Beatson and the main hospital are so different. We also appreciate that the A/E is a busy place. However I was quite dismayed at the attitudes of some of the staff I encountered on Thursday.