An evening at BGH A&E department

[Steve]

Hello everyone

I had the misfortune to have to take someone to A&E this evening, with a suspected fracture we arrived at 7.30pm .
Firstly I dropped off the gentleman at the entrance to A&E and I went to park the car.
When I found a spot quite away from A&E I noticed that the cars parked in the disabled parking bays facing out-patients dept, that the publics cars had been ticketed but staff cars had not.
By this time it was 7.35pm and I was walking past an open window of an office that contained patient's records, but nobody was in the office. (Anyone could have just grabbed the records) the next window open was switchboard, I told the ladies in there about the window and the reply was why who are you in an abrupt manner, I told the women who I was, and that I would be informing the chief executive about the window, it was only then they went to get it closed.
The waiting time in A&E at this point was 1 hour.
At 9pm a woman came in to A&E and wanted to be seen right away, when asked to give her name and address at the reception, she became very disturbed and started shouting, she was then seen right away by the triage nurse that was on duty at that time, then taken straight to see a doctor.
The people in the waiting room started to get angry as they had been waiting a long time, so I went to find out what was happening on their behalf, I was asked if I wish to speak to the sister to which I said yes.
Shortly after I was asked to go an area away from the waiting room, but I asked for the sister to inform everyone, as I feel they had a right to know, the sister informed us that the patient was really ill and in Resus, she also stated that the patient had come from a ward. I thought this was strange as she had been seen walking in from Casterton Avenue , so I asked which ward, and the Sister informed me it was ward 7.
Now surely if this woman was so ill, why was she sent down to A&E in the first place? Why on her own without a nurse? Why was she not in a wheel chair? And why did she become disturbed when asked her name and address?
At 10.25 I went and asked the triage Nurse if she knew when the gentleman I had brought might be seen, as a man who had a minor infection in his leg had arrived ½ hour after us and was being seen, she informed in bad manner that there was only one doctor seeing non-urgent cases, then asked if I was not happy with the service, I replied no then walked back to the waiting area.
When I got back to the waiting area a couple of people asked me what had been said, so I informed everyone what the nurse had said, about a minute later, the triage nurse came out shouting that she had not said that, I then asked her to tell everyone just how many doctors were treating non-urgent cases and she replied just one at the moment, then she stormed off.
I felt the chief executive should know this nurses name as she should not be allowed to treat people the way she did, as far as she knew I could have been anyone, so I went to ask for her name for my records, she refused to give it, I then noticed her ID badge, her name is B**** her Surname was covered up with tape, so I asked for it, Again she refused to give it. I informed her that while on duty she should display her badge correctly as stated in the hospital policy, I showed her my ID badge then stated that's what it should look like with the name clearly displayed. I also informed her that I would be contacting the chief executive and informing her what had gone on, her reply was well do that, again with a bad attitude.
The patient I had brought was eventually seen at 10.45pm by a West Indian looking doctor, he was also not wearing an ID badge, we eventually left at 11.10pm, and this is a far cry from 1 hour, the patient I brought said in future he will be taken to Airedale hospital, as the attitude of the staff and the wait is disgusting.
The chief executive has been informed and I will inform you of her reply as soon as I get it.

Please keep an eye onmy site where there will be regular updates.
Steve (http://www.burnleygeneralhospital.ascandal.com/)

[jaseyboy]

cmon mate it was a friday night, ang the average wait is 4hrs, and yours was 3hrs15? it could have been much worse. the a&e dept is always very busy. would you be complaining like this if there had been a massive pile up on the motorway, and loads of emergencies came in, meaning youd be waiting for ages? theyv got enough on their plates as it is, withoput people adding to it. the cars that had been ticketed may have actually merited being ticketed. the hospital has not got a vendetta against you and the public, they r understaffed and overworked, so im my opinion they should be commended for what they do, and it should be understandable that nurses will blow from time to time with the pressures of the job. if she was generally ratty at you for no reason, then i can understand, but if the a&e was full...... can i just ask why you made referance to the ethnic group of the doctor? i hope you dont think that because he is west indian he will be lesser trained and less competent.

THREE very simple words ......


GET A LIFE



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[PCwiz]

damn it - I was planning on stealing them records.....

[Mattylad]

Why do I get the feeling that steve was looking for everything that is not quite right at the hospital?

ZZzzzzzzzzzzz

[Jason]

I must agree Matty!!!......................3 hrs 15 mins is average for BGH.............I've had to wait longer than that with a 4 year old before now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jaseyboy]

he is. hes got a vendetta!

[Quazi Washboard]

God it must be a nightmare having someone like that turn up at A+E

Bore off Steve and find something better to do than bitch about a service you're provided for free.

[darren]

think you should get an ASBO steve then you can stop sticking your nose into everybody else's biusness. if your so concerned why dont you try training to be a doctor and running a hospital see how much you have to whinge about then

I think he should be banned from this website if all he's coming on to do is bad mouth BGH.

[takersbabe]

im going to close this as it will turn nasty i think.

[Neal]

He is entitled to his opinion.

However, I think you started the problem Steve by asking confidential and probing questions at a bad time and some of the questions you asked you had no right to ask, i'm referring to Patient Confidentiality and the Data Protection Act here. A&E is generally always busy, and on Fridays it starts very early and people can still be waiting until the early hours of the morning. I would like to know which window it was that was open that would enable you to take medical records (Not even stored in the switchboard area or the office nearby). You would have had to climb up and through the window straight into full view of the receptionist staff at OPD and Security and CCTV cameras.

What you don't see are the ambulances bringing people round the back of the Hospital for urgent cases. They no longer go through the front. People think they are not doing anything, when in reality urgent cases are being dealt with.

Imagine this, you deal with people who show no respect and talk to you like dirt daily and then complain when you have helped them. People try to assault you whilst you help them or shout drunken insults. People shout abuse and get nasty because they have been waiting for 2 hours. You don't get a break because your run off your feet. People visit the hospital with something that is not urgent and could have been dealt with by their GP. The flow of people is not stop. Then, someone starts having a go about waiting times and your name not being given? How would you feel?

As for the patient that had wandered off from a ward; Patients leave wards all the time and come back. They were probably confused and self-discharged. They are allowed to leave at any time if they aren't sectioned. The patient probably hurt themselves whilst leaving the Ward or wandering around. You can not stop them from leaving or get involved in preventing them from doing so if they aren't sectioned. Even if hurt, if they say leave me alone you have to do so. People need to look further into things before making their minds up.

I once waited for 5 hours for a nurse to sticky my finger up (Before I worked there!). I did not complain or moan when other people went before me. I could see by the way things were and with common sense that the staff were busy. It's not the staff or the Hospitals fault, it's ours for being too clumsy in the first place.

As for her name, she did not have to give it to you if she felt threatened by you in some way. Judging from what you said, she probably did feel threatened. Hopefully all staff ID badges will just show a number soon and the title as having someone's name can lead to all kinds of problems.

How did you know that the leg infection was minor? Are you a doctor? Did you inspect it? Serious cases go first and if something may appear trivial to you, if the Triage Nurse thinks it's important enough then they will get seen quicker.

One thing that really annoys me, people who use the hospital for trivial matters. It's an Accident and Emergency Department not a place to come for stomach ache or migraine. If your not sure, call NHS Direct or visit your Doctor. This causes waiting times to increase too.

Working at the hospital has been a real eye opener to me. Staff work hard and try their best. It's the public that cause the problems and need to learn more about the services and about respect. It's a free service, you can always go private.

To be honest, you had no right to go to the back of A&E to ask the Nurse and with your actions mentioned in your post and comments which showed you as being aggressive and intimidating, you should have been removed from the Hospital grounds.

[Mercury]

It's really, really hard on A and E, I only did a 6 week placement on A and E as a student, and wouldnt work in the department for any amount of money. Not because the area is bad, but because of the abuse you get, I realise people are ill, and want to see a doctor there and then, in an ideal world this would happen, but, it's not an ideal world.
A few questions I'd like to know:
How many patients had been brought in via ambulance? How many patients in the cubicles/ rooms were stable?
How many arrests were there in the cubicles/rooms/resus?
How many chest pain patients had been brought in?
I remeber when there was a major pile up on the A1, the waiting time went up to 4 hours, and to be honest, I felt like taking one bloke who was F ing and Blinding about the waiting time being increased round the back to see exactly what we were doing, and to why it had been increased, but to be honest, I think he still would have thought his scratched finger was more important than some poor woman with her head smashed in.
People need to realise just because you cant see what is happening, doesnt mean to say it aint happening.
I also realise that the NHS isnt perfect, but with what limited resources and money we do have, it's not bad.