"Unpleasent Time at A&E/ACU"

I accompanied a relative who was transferred to Fairfield General Hospital for further blood analysis on June 25th. Arriving at the main entrance there was no one at the reception. Only a note that stated: the reception was closed, visitors should either call a specific number ... or use the phone opposite the desk to speak to an operator (There was no phone as indicated except for a taxi phone).

Asking staff for help, no one had an answer to what we need to do or go, other than to try other reception desks. We ended up at another desk where we were told to go to the Urgent Care Unit. There we were asked for the patient name, and clearly being mistaken for someone else, we were told to wait till called.

The mistake was only discovered when the actual patient showed up. We were then told to go to the A&E. At A&E we spent most of the time waiting to be seen by the only nurse available. After which we were admitted for giving blood samples, where 3 samples were taken (without any explanation provided to what type of tests will be carried out).

During the entire time at the A&E there was an alarm going on which was very disturbing not only to us, but surely to all other patients, yet there was no attempt to check it or put it off.

We had to wait again for a long time for the results. At some point a hospital worker came out to take us to Ambulatory Care Unit (ward 7). With no explanation given except that it will be more comfortable waiting in the ACU, in a manner that was very upsetting (the way one is prepared to be informed of his pending death). An experience that was the last thing any patient with a weak heart needed.

At the ACU we were offered drinks and sandwiches?? The idea of non-medical staff offering a patient food at the ACU without knowing there medical condition or diagnosis was rather alarming, regardless of the intentions. (I have to mention the concentrated drinks on offer had Aspartame as sweetener)

A staff member who stated that she was an advanced practitioner asked a few questions but had no answers for most of the feedback we gave, then had to discuss the results with the registered doctor. Another long wait, for a brief answer that everything is OK.

We had to ask for the most important bits of information from the blood tests, as well as for a full report.

We spent 4 hours in total to get a 15 mins verbal feedback. An experience that was far from positive, from which we both came out feeling very tired and exhausted.

It seemed that some of the staff were inadequately trained for the tasks they are assigned.

The A&E handled all enquiries whether accident and emergency related or otherwise.

A lack of communication between the staff in the different departments.

There is a lot to be desired in terms of facility management and monitoring, as well better equipment and staffing.