"Left waiting too long without assessment"

Anything else?

My ninety-two year old mother waited two and a half hours for a doctor to look at a head wound. She had a fall and had bled copiously hence an ambulance was called and she was brought into A&E. Apart from a quick blood pressure check, no one was concerned about her during this time. Getting a bedpan for her was very difficult, asked four times – only just in time. And then a couple of repeats for what must be the most normal of requests. Everyone deserves better, let alone the frail elderly!

Communication between the staff and patients appeared non-existent, and overheard from the next cubicle was a patient left waiting an hour after being seen. No one told him he could go, and the nurse was surprised to find him there. The doctor had told him to await his return!

It seems these days that more and more people are taken to casualty as a precaution, and therefore once arrived, left aside while more urgent cases are dealt with, quite rightly. But better communication and nursing care while a doctor is awaited would make all the difference to the frustrated ‘walking wounded’. Surely you could organise things better St Richards!

The saving grace was a wonderful woman in a green overall (the only one I saw) who offered us a cup of tea, and showed genuine concern for my mother during what became a real ordeal for her.