"Please keep this hospital and a & e open - a very..."

What I liked

This is a local hospital for Enfield people...I had first been to Barnet A & E because close to work but all the parking spaces for A & E there were full and the rest of spaces given to staff.I was quite stressed about this. So was relieved to get a parking space at Chase (expensive though). More than this because it is local to my home and I was on my own feeling vulnerable. The staff overall were helpful and nice people.

What could be improved

There should be a fast track system for very minor injuries in A & E

Seen by triage nurse within 15mins of arrival however had 4 hour wait for a very minor a&e proceedure. Suggested to triage nurse to do proceedure herself which she did not volunteer to do but agreed with me that waiting 'for at least 3 hours' was ridiculous.

I could not understand why it should take so long to see just 7 people before me...3 were young children with suspected broken bones and another with minor injury. Someone with a bad back, a young man waiting for a chest x-ray and a woman with eye injury . Once i was seen by doctor - proceedure was very quick however felt she was a bit 'rushed' in her manner and didn't make much eye contact ... the team seemed disjointed and unfamiliar with each other and i waited a further 10 mins to get an injection by a nurse which could have been done by the doctor .

Anything else?

Given I had a 4 hour wait it gave me the opportunity to monitor what was going on in A & E. There seemed to be alot of staff walking around 'doing nothing' in particular and organisation of staff needs to be considered. The building is tired and in desperate need of rebuilding - not refurbishment.The department needs to be steam cleaned too - the area I was treated the corners/floors were really 'cruddy/fluffy and dusty'.Chase Farm provides a very vital/essential service for local residents (and wider). Of the people I observed many were elderly and commented that they were glad the hospital was close to their homes. Overall staff were very kind and nice people.