"Absolute Chaos"

I was taken by ambulance to A&E on the morning of 13/10/18 with a suspected heart attack. The ambulance staff were both thorough I was treated with respect. Although my chest & jaw pains had diminished, I was told that on admission to hospital I would have a blood test and then a second one after 6 hours. Upon arrival at Peterborough hospital I was put in a bay where I waited to be assessed. I was checked over, given a further ECG & moved to a waiting area. Every member of staff looked frazzled. The department was extremely busy for a Tuesday morning but it was apparent that they were at breaking point. If patients wanted to use the toilet, their chair was gone when they returned (literally gone - taken to another waiting area). One poor man in distress and on a drip went for a walk to try & get a mobile signal & on his return his chair was gone so he spent the rest of his wait standing. Eventually, I had my first blood test at 2:30pm which meant I had to stay in (now feeling fine!) until 8:30pm for the second blood test. I’d been moved to a department that I was told would be closed by then! Eventually I saw a doctor at about 4:30pm who discharged me saying there was no need for the second blood test! I then had to wait another 15 minutes for someone to remove my cannula. In the end, nobody knew why I had been in so much pain! A frustrating day for me but worse for overworked staff in A&E. We are indeed becoming a 3rd world country if we aren’t already. Our NHS is at breaking point!