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"Northern General hospital A&E."

About: Northern General Hospital

(as a service user),

I attended A&E with a knife wound that may have required stitching. I later learned it might have been better to attend a minor injuries unit, but was not signposted to this either by 111 or A&E receptionist. 

I disclosed my disability, autism, at reception. 

The receptionist directed me to wait in a waiting area that was inaccessible due to autism. It was loud, busy, scary, and sensory overwhelming. Fearing a public meltdown as a result of the stressors, I attempted to wait in the toilets, however they were unclean and I may have missed my name being called. I tried once more to wait in the waiting area, but it was not possible. 

I tried to explain once more to the receptionist, who wrongly responded as if I was moaning about waiting times. I would have been fine waiting as long as anyone else but the waiting room was inaccessible to me.  They didn't understand. 

As a result, I had to leave A&E without care. I took a taxi to Tesco and bought super glue and had to glue my wound together instead of stitches. It had now healed with a scar and I'm very anxious that if I required emergency care in the future I would be unable to access it due to my disability. 

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Responses

Response from Nancy Henwood, Patient Experience Co-ordinator, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 4 years ago
Nancy Henwood
Patient Experience Co-ordinator,
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Submitted on 30/05/2019 at 15:30
Published on Care Opinion at 15:30


Thank you for leaving feedback and we are very sorry to learn of what happened. Your feedback will be shared with the appropriate staff. However, if you would like to provide any further details about this specific occasion, please do not hesitate to contact our Patient Services Team, either by calling them on 0114 271 2400 or by email at pst@sth.nhs.uk

With thanks and best wishes

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