"Rudeness and nastiness of a staff member"

I was referred to Victoria Hospital a&e dept following instructions from a Neurosurgeon at ERI.

I entered the dept and was triaged within an hour.No issues about waiting to be seen etc.

6hrs later I was called through to a room, had tests and scans done and was asked to sit in a seating area in the Minors area. Again I had no problem with this.

Because I "appeared well" I was pretty much ignored by everyone passing by for several hours.

I had an excellent Dr though.

After almost 3hrs of sitting in the Minors area and waiting for the Dr to call ERI regarding my scans etc and coming back to talk to me, I stopped a nurse.

I tried asking what was happening as it was after 10.30pm by this time. I also said I understood the dept was busy etc.

The nurse snapped loudly and very angrily at me saying I was in an accident and emergency department, for emergencies and very sick people and that I should understand I was not an emergency if I'm Minors.

I tried explaining my situation as they did not know why I was there at all. I was then told not to pester staff and to sit and wait, like the other non emergency patients. They then muttered under their breath, swearing at me as they left.

It was another 2hrs before I was offered a place to lie down and a drink.

I was finally allowed home at 1.30am after speaking to the Consultant on shift, she was kind and allowed me home due to my distress at being treated in such a way ,but she would contact my GP to ask they contact me asap to follow up on me and that she would ask ERI to see me urgently as an outpatient.

From 2pm until 10.30pm,my experience within the a&e dept at Victoria hospital was very positive and staff were engaging and pleasant. This one nurse caused unnecessary distress. I myself am a qualified nurse and so understand the stresses that they go through etc.

But this was wrong and not patient centred care at all.