"Fawlty Towers A&E department."

I have had to attend the accident and emergency department at this hospital as an emergency. I work in the health care sector myself and involved in managing a large medical team.

My mother had a suspected heart attack while out shopping in Solihull and was brought to the hospital suffering with chest pain and shortness of breath. The initial assessment by the doctor was very good and some blood tests were ordered the member of staff tasked with taking blood from my mother was very heavy handed which my mother found very upsetting and the box with the cannulas ( needles) in appeared to be soiled with blood from another patient. There was no cleaning down of the mobile bloods trolley where the blood samples were being placed and no tray or barrier being used.

The phlebotomist had no bed side manner and was snapping at my mother as they struggled to find a vein. I watched as the phlebotomist wheeled the trolley to another patient , no clean down with alcohol wipes or detergent was carried out and the phlebotomist didn't wash their hands. These are minimal and essential cross infection requirements and breach HTM 01-05 guidelines.

Over a two day period I witnessed nurses discussing their weekend and tv programmes when tending patients, a group of people sitting behind the reception desk chatting about their nhs pensions and I overheard one junior doctor joking on the phone that a they had just left a patient that had been complaining of chest pain???? This is all within earshot of the patients.

I missed the doctors round and so approached the counter to ask a question about my mother and was met with rolling eyes and one word answers and generally treated with contempt. In any other service industry you would give these people a piece of your mind.

My mother is diabetic and when she was waiting to be transferred to the cardiac ward was begging them to feed her some breakfast as it was about 11.00am and she hadn't eaten. The nurses kept telling her to wait till she got on the ward despite being up for the last two hours. When I arrived, I helped sit her up in bed , I got her some crisp and a drink from the vending machines ( her breakfast) while these nurses returned to chatting about nothing in particular behind their station.

I'm afraid our experience here was terrible and judging by the cross infection control dangerous. My mother was not treated with respect or dignity and the display of professionalism witnessed by us from the nursing staff was poor. I would understand this perhaps if the department was exceptionally busy but it wasn't. This is in breach of CQC guidelines.

My mother felt vulnerable and didn't want me to make an official complaint as she felt she was at the mercy of these individuals. It is heart breaking to leave a loved one in the hands of such unprofessional people.