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"Fabulous triage nurse. Shockingly bad doctors"

About: Colchester General Hospital

I attended a&e this a.m. I have been unwell for approx three weeks. I have seen a g.p at my surgery who prescribed antibiotics for a sinus infection. The reason for my visit to a&e this morning was due to dizziness, confusion, neck pain, photophobia, vision disturbances and pins and needles in my left hand. I also have cluster pain & pressure in the left side of my head. This concerned me greatly. I was triaged by a fantastic nurse, who after a thorough assessment wanted to send me round to Majors. He took us through and went off to Speak to the doctors, who without even meeting/seeing me sent me back round to see the a&e doctor. I felt quite bad for the nurse, who seemed quite embarrassed due to his opinion and findings not being respected. Finally I saw the a&e doctor, who started our conversation by asking why I had not gone to see my own doctor instead of him. I tried to explain why my new symptoms were worrying me. He didn't seem to grasp that I was fully aware of the fact that I have a sinus infection & although I had obviously mentioned that I was being treated for a sinus infection I wasn't there to get this infection treated. I was there because of my new symptoms. He did not seem interested in listening, he told me to go back to my own g.p and pop to tesco for a nasal spray. I'm guessing that a nasal spray will probably not fix my above mentioned symptoms, as they point more to a neurological issue than being congested (which I'm not by the way. The nurse even mentioned how clear my breathing is). After a very confusing conversation with the doctor, some confusion being down to a bit of a language barrier & one of my main symptoms being confusion I promptly left in tears. I felt that I had been told off for wasting the doctors time & utterly frustrated that I had not been listened too. Never again will I willingly visit CGH in future. I would like to thank the nurse for his care and for listening so well to my concerns. If only the doctors could be more like him. Maybe then the hospital wouldn't be under special measures & far fewer patients would be dying of conditions that could probably have been treated successfully.

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Responses

Response from Colchester General Hospital 10 years ago
Colchester General Hospital
Submitted on 10/01/2014 at 17:38
Published on nhs.uk on 11/01/2014 at 03:00


I apologise you’ve not had a good patient experience. We try really hard to improve our services based on the comments we receive from our patients, their relatives or carers. We would like the opportunity to discuss your experiences more fully and to apologise in person. If you are willing I would appreciate it if I could ask the matron to contact you. Could you email me, using the reference “Accident and emergency services at RDEE4-Colchester General Hospital at 10/01/2014 12:43:41”, please? Many thanks Paul Searle, Head of Communications Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust info@colchesterhospital.nhs.uk

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