"Waiting and poor communication at Rotherham A+E"

My dad was taken into A+E in an ambulance on Sunday.

Once he arrived in A+E, he had to wait 30minutes to be seen by a nurse, who said he needed to have an ECG. 45 minutes later, I went to ask what was happening and the three doctors behind the desk playing on the computers ignored me.

Another doctor came through and asked if he could help. When I explained the situation he said they didn't realise he was waiting for an ECG and someone would come. 10minutes later no-one had come so we asked the sister who had said he needed the ECG and she said all the doctors were busy and went behind the desk to ask then walked right past us and no-one came. I thought this was quite rude, she could have come back and said someone would be with us shortly rather than just walk past and leave us still unsure what was happening.

All of this time the ECG machine stood stationary next to the doctors station. By this time we had been in the hospital for 90minutes and been waiting for the ECG for one hour. There were patients coming in from ambulances who were queuing down the corridor on their trolleys waiting for beds. After over an hour later, someone came to take Dad's bloods and do the ECG, 2 and a half hours after being told he needed it.

He was moved shortly after to the Clinical Decisions Unit where he waited for the doctor to come and discharge him, over an hour and a half later.

We feel that the service in the hospital is not up to standard. I can understand about staff shortages but the doctors and nurses didn't seem to have any urgency in them and did not make us feel at ease or keep us informed of what was happening. The communication between staff was also poor.

My opinion of Rotherham A+E was already low from past experiences but this has made my opinion lower still.