I attended the A&E department on 9 October 2023 at 01.30 following advice from the 111 service. They suspected my symptoms may be a sign of an aneurysm. On arrival the receptionist was abrupt and said she could only record one of my symptoms so she put chest pain. I was then seen by the triage nurse who took a basic history and my blood pressure. He seemed totally disinterested. I was then sent to the waiting room and shortly after taken into the treatment area. The nurse there did an ecg and took bloods but totally dismissed me when I explained what the 111 service had sent me in with. At no point was I seen by a doctor. I was then sent back to the waiting room where I remained until 8.30 at which point I was transferred to the Acute Medical Unit. What a difference, I was seen by a nurse practitioner who took a full history and did a thorough examination before sending me for a scan which identified a fractured thoracic vertebrae. While I fully appreciate that the A&E was very busy, there is no excuse for the dismissive attitude of their staff. As an ex nurse myself I was disappointed to see such poor quality of care. Praise does however go to the AMU staff who restored my faith in nurses.

On arrival at 11am hand over was made and i was moved to a corridor in a long queue but happy i was in safe hands and within 2-3 hours i was moved to another part of a&e. At around 4pm i had a chat to a junior doctor who was very surprised to see i hadnt had a cannula fitted so this was taken care of but didnt fill me with confidence. At around 6pm i finally had a scan on my brain and blood was taken. On returning from the scan i was moved to a cubicle and left unattended until 9.45pm. Nobody checked on me, nobody offered me a drink of water and nobody offered me anything to eat. I struggled out of my stretcher and hobbled to the reception desk and almost begged for a sandwich like Oliver Twist i thought. Id been in the hospital for 10 hours without any food! Once Id eaten it was time to struggle back into the stretcher and be left unattended again until 6am. Whilst I lay there unable to sleep, the a&e night staff continued their careless attitude, laughing and joking, on their phones and arguing with disgruntled patients. When the daytime staff took over at 6am youd have thought it was a completely different hospital! Caring nurses did the rounds checking on patients and i was offered painkillers, which is another thing the night staff neglected, food and water. I felt like I was being looked after again! Nearing discharge time i was still in A&E, i never got to a ward, and was checked over by a senior consultant who was very brash, very condescending and rude. The lovely nurses rallied around attending to everyone and then a really decent physio chap checked me over and made sure i was mobile enough to leave and very kindly got me a walking stick. I was discharged at 1.30pm.