"Substandard care and patient welfare"

Visit to A&E. It was like sitting in a freezer in the corridor.

I choked on some food which resulted in being sick and not being able to keep anything down.

After this, I could no longer eat or drink without pain and bringing everything back up.

I thought the obstruction would move but it didn’t. Even though I was in pain and lack of sleep, I left it to the morning to go to the A&E. I was seen very quickly by a doctor, who arranged for a procedure to remove the obstruction the next morning.

I was then moved to the famous corridor in A&E (the one where the ambulances come into). It must have been zero degrees.

I was told that I would be moved onto a ward as soon as a bed become available.

I had not slept the night before and was hungry, and thirsty as nothing was staying down. I then waited and waited, occasionally asking the nurses when I would be moved on to a ward. They said it was up to bed management.

I was left waiting in the freezing corridor for over 12 hours watching other patients going up to the wards. I then asked the nurse what the problem was and when I would be going up to a ward, only to be told wasn’t because the medical team had deemed that I had diarrhoea and would be a danger to other patients.

I didn’t have diarrhoea. I had not eaten or drank anything for a few days. I didn’t realise that doctor could diagnose medical problems without seeing patients. Do they have a crystal ball? At no time was I informed there was a problem. It was when I asked the nurse who had come on duty why I was still waiting to go to a ward

I am in my 70s, at this time very tired, very hungry and frozen still and they thought it was OK to leave me sitting in a freezing corridor for that length of time.

Fortunately, this nurse arranged for me to be moved somewhere else in A&E where it was warmer and quieter.

The procedure was done the following morning for which I am extremely grateful. I was then placed in another part of A&E for over 5 hours. At this time still in the clothes I arrived in, no facilities for a wash etc.

I was told it could be another couple of hours before the doctor came round to give me a discharge letter.

This meant I had no way of getting home and there was no way I was going to stay in A&E another night.

By this time I was fed up and asked for a discharge letter.

I managed to get a discharge letter, of course this meant another couple of hours waiting for medication.

Good Points:

Fortunately, the Red Cross came to my rescue and arranged transportation for me to get me home.

Getting the procedure done quickly

The kindness of the nurse who took pity on me and kept apologising stating that there was nothing further they could do.

Nurses were very busy, but I believe they forgot about and me and did not keep me informed

I would say that the corridor in A&E is dangerous and I can see more patients dying.

I was not the only person complaining about the cold and the conditions.