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I feel sorry for anyone subjected to this hospital

Posted By dundren

"I feel sorry for anyone subjected to this hospital "

About: Leicester Royal Infirmary / Accident and emergency

(as the patient),

Having been admitted to this hospital by my doctor because of heart complaint I was sat in A&E for 3 hours. I felt fine and tried to get up for a cigarette. I was then confronted by a nurse who told me I couldn't leave until I was seen by a doctor. When I asked to be discharged (the wait had obviously been enough to make the condition pass), I was then told that wanting a cigarette with a heart referral was a mental health condition and she called security to detain me which then provoked another episode.

After a further 2 hours (5 hours 35 minutes) I was then seen by a doctor, whilst not wishing to sound racist (he was white European) I could not understand him at all and he could not explain the tests or processes he was doing.

After 12 hours a shift change occurred and this is time my condition was explained to me by an Asian doctor who told me I would have been discharged far earlier but my heart rate went very high after I was detained against my will. She realised the irony and agreed that the circumstances were probably the reason but said that the nurse was doing what she thought best.

I feel sorry for anyone subjected to this hospital and the stress I was put through. I honestly think my condition would have been better dealt with by my doctor referring me to a different hospital and more compassionate staff rather than some people seemingly abusing their power over patients.

I am sure that they have very worthwhile doctors and support staff but sadly I didn't meet one.

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Responses

Response from University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust 10 years ago
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

Submitted on 25/02/2014 at 15:50
Published on Care Opinion at 16:00

Deard dundren,

I am very sorry to hear of your bad experience.

As you may be aware from the news, we have had some very difficult weeks recently with high numbers of very ill patients. Yesterday / last night was particularly challenging and I can appreciate the concerns you have raised.

I would like to look into your care further. May I ask you for some further details via our Patient Information and Liaison Service (PILS), you can do this via the website www.leicestershospitals.nhs.uk/patients/patient-welfare/patient-information-and-liaison-service/ via email, pils@uhl-tr.nhs.uk or free phone 08081 788337.

In the meantime, I would like to reassure you we do try our best to provide compassionate care. When Emergency Department conditions get extreme (as you saw yesterday), the staff naturally concentrate on patient safety as their top priority. Sometimes this can come across as not very compassionate and if so, we are sorry.

Regarding security, as a general principle, the only time our nurses ask security to detain a patient is if they feel the patient is confused, agitated or unaware of the risk they may be posing to themselves or to others. I’ve spoken to security who weren’t able to identify the incident you described from their records and will look into it again once / if you send us further details.

I am sorry you had a stressful visit to the Emergency Department. We are working hard as a department, and as an organisation to improve the entire emergency process and patient experience. We appreciate all feedback, positive and negative, and try and learn from it. Thank you for sharing your concerns – please do get in touch with PILS if you are happy for us to investigate further.

Yours sincerely

Dr. Pro Mukherjee

Consultant in Emergency Medicine

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

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