"The medical registrar when I finally ..."

What I liked

The medical registrar when I finally saw them after six hours was thorough, helpful and engendered confidence unlike the entire experience to that point.

What could be improved

Following a GP referral I arrived at about 4.30pm and was not seen for six hours by the medical team. For the first four hours I was not spoken to by anyone other than the initial receptionist and there was no indication of wait time anywhere. No observations or bloods were taken. No water was on offer, eventually my husband went and asked an orderly for water and they found some for us. After four hours I asked the nurse whether there was any point waiting as I had been sent in for a head scan and surely they would not be able to scan at night but they assured me that if a head scan was required I would be scanned at that evening. Of course when I finally saw the registrar he confirmed although a head scan was required they do not do scans at night. One nurse did appear to know what was going on and was trying to get the others organised but this was only a small burst of organisation for about an hour in the middle of my visit and did not make any real progress. All this against the backdrop of a not particularly (by their own admission) evening. This meant the staff were jovial and chatty with each other but did not engage with patients at all. The most depressing thing was the lack of any process for moving patients through or any communication.

Anything else?

The experience felt less than third world and certainly worse than being delayed at a foreign airport on a budget airline. A really appalling level of patient care.