"Sepsis card not acted on"

I am a chemotherapy patient at the Headland Unit (Treliske) Whilst I cannot fault the care and kindness given to me in this department, my last visit to A and E for suspected sepsis has left me very frightened to ring the 24 hour telephone helpline again and told to attend A and E.

As part of my care, my oncologist has given me a sepsis card which clearly states that upon arrival to A and E, IV antibiotics should be administered with an hour of admission and before any further tests are taken.  

I had a low temperature and the advice line told me to attend A and E.  We arrived at 6pm and presented the sepsis card.  I was taken into triage within 15 minutes of arrival, blood pressure and temperature taken.  I was then left for a further two hours, despite myself and my husband both going back to the desk and receptionist ringing through to remind medical staff that I was a chemo patient waiting for treatment. The waiting room in A and E was not busy at this point.  

At 7pm I was told that I would be seen "within 10 minutes" once a staff handover had taken place.  At 7.45 I stopped a nurse and asked again when would I be seen?  It was only when I started to feel sick and weak that I was quickly taken into the minors department for a blood test and assessment at just after 8pm.  I spent a further hour in this department, having spoken to a doctor who didn't even competently assess whether my PICC line was infected.  

Finally, at 9pm I was taken into majors and IV antibiotics administered.  A nurse mentioned that "they had lost my notes" and another nurse tried to blame the delay on ourselves when we stepped outside for 5 minutes (having told reception where we were) at 6.50pm due to a patient vomiting and me not wanting to pick up an infection.   My blood test, chest x ray  and urine sample results finally came back just before midnight and we were discharged shortly afterwards.  

Luckily I was not neutropenic on this occasion, but had I been suffering from sepsis I fear the outcome might have been much worse. Please treat chemo patients with compromised immunity according to the protocols outlined on the Sepsis card.  Whilst I understand that this is a relatively new system, communication and consistency between A and E and other departments desperately needs to be improved.  I look forward to receiving your response.