"A&E experience night of April 21/22 2014"

I attended A&E from 23.00 on 21/4 to 02.45 on 22/4 when my father was brought there by ambulance with a broken femur. I want to tell you how good it all was. I had a similar experience 7 years ago when I attended because my mother had done the same thing. On this occasion I found the A&E reception area welcoming, calm and visitor-friendly. The receptionist was genuinely interested in assisting me and letting me know as soon as I could go through to the assessment area to be with my father (who has had Alzheimer's for 10 years and who would not have been able to speak for himself). When I was in there, I had confidence that the entire team was working together to make things happen, and that carried on in the next area where one of the red-suited emergency doctors kept popping back to check why there was a bit of a delay in getting my father to X-ray and then I noticed he was speaking directly to one of the porters and agreeing priorities with him. Finally we had a reassuring discussion with (I think) an orthopaedic doctor after she had seen the X-ray, confirmed the fracture and outlined the surgical options, ward availability and the implications for a 93 year old patient. I came away that night feeling that I was leaving him in safe hands. Thank you