Anything else?
I attended A&E on Sunday 6th October, being brought by ambulance following a gardening accident. (angle grinder through my fore arm) I arrived at 1130am approximately, thought me & the ambulance crew who brought me were kept waiting in the corridor well over 30 minutes. Having been assessed by a nurse, though wound was never uncovered, I was kept waiting until 3pm to see the doctor. (it was suggested I get up & sit in the waiting area as I'd probably be seen quicker, but due to a reaction to the morphine I'd had in the ambulance - which A&E were unaware of - I wasn't well enough to do this.) The doctor asked if I'd had tetnus at school & said I'd be covered for life. Plastics later said this was incorrect & the implications of it not being up to date were high, given the nature of my injury. The doctor discharged me with a dressing, antibiotics, pain relief & appointment for the plastics clinic the next day. I arrived at 8am the next morning, was assessed, had wound dressed & was waiting for an operation & bed at 910am. The doctor prescribed IV antibiotics. I was still waiting at 630pm, having been nil by mouth from the previous day! About that time I was allocated a bed on the day surgery ward & advised they still hoped to do op. At 8pm I was advised operation would be next day & I could have some toast. Blood pressure was still low & I wasn't given any IV antibiotics. (though I'd mentioned to sister when waiting on plastics, she said not written up) Woken at 545am next morning to have tea & toast prior to vitals being taken. BP still low . Advised nurse that there was heat in my wound & felt it was infected, slight odour. Still didn't get painkillers or antibiotics til I asked again, nearer 9am. Doctor came 9ish & said hoped to operate that day. I got IV antibiotics then. Operation around 3pm. Doctors visited after surgery, Meghan said wound was very dirty & infected - she personally wanted to see it on Saturday morning. Not suprising given that it was left from Sunday to Tuesday!! Spoke to Doctor on Wednesday morning, said I could go home. Ward said I needed to see a physio at plastics from post op notes, earliest time 1150am. Went to plastics but they didn't really need to see me. However dressing was changed & splint applied. I finally left around 130pm. All of the staff I met we great, barring the A&E doctor who gave me the wrong information on tetnus, but you're systems & proceedures leave a lot to be desired & deperately need reviewing. The general consensus from the various paramedics I & other people I spoke to was that your hospital had the worst reputation in the region. I would be very happy to discuss my experiences further should you require additional information.
"A&E & follow up - great staff but poor overall..."
About: University Hospital Of North Durham University Hospital Of North Durham Durham DH1 5TW
Posted via nhs.uk
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