"Absolute chaos"

I visited Kettering hospital yesterday evening with a young lady, from the start it was an extremely difficult experience. As a new visitor to the hospital it was not clear how to enter the building. When we arrived at A&E the sign in desk was chaotic with a nurse switching from one side of a strange screen to the other to answer calls etc they had no idea where the receptionist was. They eventually strolled back in having a laugh with another member of staff. The experience was far removed from other hospital experiences where sign up is usually quick and efficient with quick referral to triage for assessment.

Following registration which took around 20 mins we were taken to a facility which is clearly not fit for purpose, the young lady I was escorting was in a chair and we were taken into a tiny room with other families with prams and young children, the space provided is not adequate to deal with prams etc and it is quite clear young patients will need these. The whole space in children's A&E was untidy and grubby in appearance. We waited around 40 mins before being seen by anyone. The 'nurse' I'm unsure of the person's role in the organisation came and took details and assured us they would get some painkillers for the patient, what was surprising was that during the consultation a colleague came to disturb them to check if they wanted a cup of tea! (again I know staff need refreshment but there's a time and during consultation is not the right time). Over 30 ins later these still hadn't arrived again the perception of organisation and procedures appeared lax. I reminded them that they had said they would provide some medication. The response was 'oh sorry I forgot!' The parking situation is totally unsatisfactory, I had parked in the car park closest to the building which due to the hour was empty, I went to ask the car park attendant if I could leave the car there as it was empty however this cant happen which seems completely ridiculous during the overnight hours when it is dark and cold and people are visiting the hospital in an A&E situation. We were eventually seen by a lovely doctor and treated but the wait was almost 4 hours and in my opinion the number of patient in the facility was not excessive.

I fully appreciate the hospital is a busy environment and there are lots of things going on behind the schemes that patients aren't aware of. However I believe with a bit of management intervention and work smart procedures things in the department could operate a lot more fluidly. I did check out the ratings on the Quality care commission and was unsurprising to see the hospitals rating was inadequate. Someone needs to take a step back and look at the procedures and organisation and bring it into the 21st century. The public deserve a better service for the facilities being paid for from their taxes.

All the staff encountered were polite and lovely but the overall impression is unprofessional