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"Long A & E wait with no information"

About: Darlington Memorial Hospital

My problems are the length of wait with no time information, no staff concerns and the growing feeling of becoming a nuisance when asking a question. After a 3.5 hour A&E wait, the last 1.5 hours being "next on the list", and with the time approaching 2.30am we felt we had no choice than to leave untreated. My daughter had fallen between the platform and train at the railway station and severely hurt her lower back which we informed reception. After asking if we had been forgotten and being told we had been put on the 'not here to be seen list', my daughter was sat on a chair and asked "How much does it hurt" by the Staff Nurse. No examination of any kind was undertaken. From that question is was decided that she should see the Doctor. As time went by and several requests for "How long, just approximately, we would have to wait" we were told "we could leave if we wanted to" and "the beds are full of seriously ill patients", making my daughter feel that her condition was extremely minor and she was a nuisance. Due to the Pain, Tiredness and growing Frustration of no end to the wait in sight, we felt that we had no choice than to inform a staff member that "with no length of wait information we feel that we have no choice than to leave" we were told "That's fine" and therefore left untreated. By the time we left we were the only waiting patients in the waiting room, and had been for at least 45 minutes. We had been told that there were 3 doctors on duty but nobody could give any 'time waiting' information and we left with the overriding feeling of No Concern to my daughters' well being because it was our choice to leave. However with the above circumstance it may appear that I chose to leave… I do not agree it was our choice to leave... we had no option.

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Responses

Response from Darlington Memorial Hospital 9 years ago
Darlington Memorial Hospital
Submitted on 28/04/2014 at 09:53
Published on nhs.uk on 29/04/2014 at 04:00


Thank you for providing feedback on your recent visit to the A & E at Darlington Memorial Hospital. I am very sorry to hear that you were unhappy with your experience on this occasion. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss your concerns with you. If you feel this would be useful please contact the Trust’s Patient Experience Team on 0800 783 5774. If you would prefer to contact us by e-mail, our address is patient.experience@cddft.nhs.uk Alternatively, you can write to us at the following address: - Patient Experience Team Darlington Memorial Hospital Hollyhurst Road Darlington County Durham DL3 6HX

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