This is Care Opinion [siteRegion]. Did you want Care Opinion [usersRegionBasedOnIP]?
Care Opinion

Planned admission took 7 hours in A&E before bed...

Story from nhs.uk

"Planned admission took 7 hours in A&E before bed..."

About: West Cumberland Hospital

My wife had an admission arranged through her GP and Specialist at the Hospital. We were told at 13:00 to come to A&E with an admission letter at 17:00. It was after midnight when a bed became available and she was admitted onto the ward. Despite being in a lot of distress nothing could be done to speed up admission. We live 5 minutes from the hospital & for a pre-arranged admission it would surely be better to phone the person when a bed is actually available instead of sitting in the holding pens with nothing happening. It raises a patients stress levels when they are already distressed. It wouldn't take a lot to organise. I suggested this at the desk as a way to improve patient experience.

More about:
nhs.uk logo
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from West Cumberland Hospital 10 years ago
West Cumberland Hospital

Submitted on 04/04/2014 at 13:31
Published on nhs.uk on 05/04/2014 at 04:00

Dear Sir I am sorry to hear that this was such an unsatisfactory experience for your wife and yourself. We acknowledeg that at at times, availbility of beds can be a challenge and are so sorry that this was the case on the date in question. The rationale for requesting that you wait at the hospital would be to ensure that your wife was in a place of safety with medical staff to hand , if her need for admission was determined by her GP and specialist . We are grateful to you for contacting us about this experience and will use it to learn how we can make things more comfortable and less distressing for patients in future should this situation arise again. With best wishes to both yourself and your wife. I hope that she is making a good recovery. Alison General Manager Patient Experience

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k