"A&E visit wait time and poor systems"

Arrived to A&E following a 111 call. I was advised to wait for an ambulance for 2 hours or make my own way to A&E.

Arrived at A&E via taxi close to midnight, saw triage nurse within the hour.

Did not see a doctor until approx 09:00 the next day. When I saw the doctor they were under the impression that the system showed I had left the A&E waiting room and returned to see a doctor. I would like someone to clarify what is on the system please, at no point did I leave site prior to this meeting with the doctor and I would like to make this clear. If it is the case that the system shows I left site then this is a huge issue as a member of staff must have updated the system to show this.

I can't help but feel that staff have logged that I self discharged and re-inducted before the national guided 4 hour timeframe to prevent showing as a time breach on the system.

Had an x-ray, blood tests and nasal swabs taken and was asked to return to A&E waiting room until my results were back. I was told this would take approx 30 minutes.

I left A&E waiting room 2 and half hours later, I could not mentally or physically stay in the waiting room any more. It had become damaging to my health.

12 hours and 30 minutes in an A&E waiting room is completely unacceptable and a disgusting way to treat patients. Before leaving I was in the waiting room over 3 times longer than the national guided timeframe (4 hours for a patient to be inducted then discharged). Unfortunately I was not formally discharged from A&E (whilst on site) as waiting in the A&E waiting room for 12 hours and 30 minutes with no treatment was making my condition worse. I advised the receptionist 4 times that my condition was getting worse and just got told my place on the waiting list. I don't believe that my concerns were forwarded to a clinician at any point.

I made the decision that waiting any longer in the A&E waiting room was going to cause me further pain and suffering as a pose to resolving the original issue so had to leave.

I understand that this waiting time is not the fault of any individual staff members. However there is clearly a huge flaw in the system if patients are waiting this long. I found the A&E waiting room unsafe due to the length of time I was waiting. My condition worsened over my 12 hours and 30 minutes wait and it only worsened because of the length of time I was made to wait in an painfully uncomfortable A&E waiting room.

Due to me leaving I was unable to get the results from my x-ray, blood tests or swabs. What I found deeply unprofessional and extremely unsafe was how hard it was to get in touch with a receptionist in the A&E waiting room. I wanted to know if there were any prescriptions for me to pick up or if there was a better time for me to come speak to a doctor, once I felt the effects of waiting so long in the A&E waiting room had reversed and I felt safe to do so. I attempted to call the A&E waiting room 22 times between a 2 hour period in the afternoon. A vast majority of these calls involved a receptionist picking the phone up briefly before slamming it straight back down to stop the phone from ringing. This is outrageous and requires someone's immediate attention, I find it unprofessional and extremely unsafe to run an emergency department waiting room this way.

Those calls that were not picked up and slammed down immediately by a receptionist were bounced back through hospital switchboard operator.

Overall something drastic needs to change to make the new multi million pound A&E at Chesterfield Royal feel safe and professional for patients to attend. I am so disappointed with my experience and honestly have nothing good to say about my 12 hours and 30 minutes in the waiting room.

The only positive about my time at Chesterfield Royal was my brief encounter with a very kind and compassionate doctor.