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"Rude, unhelpful, poor hygiene. Disgusting..."

About: North Middlesex Hospital

The ambulance took my mother into A&E after she had fainted and lost conciseness two times whilst at home on her own. It began well, they took her for initial checks and we were offered tea/coffee and a sandwich. After a few hours I began to worry that maybe her paperwork had been misplaced as all the other patients who had come in before and after us seemed to have been seen. So I asked a doctor on the reception desk how long the wait might be. She rudely replied that it is 4 hours to see a doctor, without even looking at me. I said I just want to check that my mum's details are here and we haven't been forgotten about. Again she answered the wait is 4 hours without even averting her eyes from the computer screen. A much friendlier and helpful doctor sitting beside her asked my mum's name and checked and said that her details were there and she would be next in line. After a few more hours we were called in for a blood test in a small dirty room with just a chair in there. The blood test was administered without any gloves being worn by the nurse. The nurse then left the room and my mum began feeling faint again. I called the nurse in and asked if she could stay by my mum's side while I went to get some water for her, she said yes. When I got back my mum was alone in the room and the nurse was nowhere to be seen. My mum continued to feel faint and lost conciseness. I called out for someone to help. The staff were rude, tried to literally pull her onto a bed, they had no idea how to handle her and just grabbed and pulled her from everywhere. Do these people even have any handling training? I asked a nurse how long the doctor would be. She said "soon". I asked 5 minutes, half an hour, and hour? She said she would go and ask him. I watched her for 15 minutes as she sat at her computer, spoke to people, she didn't go and ask him After being there almost 8 hours we finally saw a doctor. While the doctor came back to give more results my mum started feeling faint again. I quickly moved her to the nearest seat which a lady got up to offer to me, by a bed with a patient. My mum kept going in and out of consciousness, I tried to keep her alert and help. I am not a nurse or a doctor and I do not know what the best thing is to do when someone loses consciousness, I was worried and panicking. The doctors and nurses were all standing a metre or so away from me and not a single person came over to help my mum. The doctor told me to move my mum from there because she was distressing the other patients, that I can't just sit her in someone else's chair, that I'm not allowed to do that. I told him I can't move her she is unconscious! Can somebody please help me!! Still no one helped!! 2 very helpful paramedics came over and helped her and were absolutely fantastic with her!! Whilst this was happening the doctor said she's fine to go home. "The results don't lie." Thank you to nurses and paramedics who did help. You are amazing.

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Responses

Response from Maxine Malpass, Communications Officer, North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 9 years ago
Maxine Malpass
Communications Officer,
North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust
Submitted on 31/12/2014 at 14:04
Published on Care Opinion at 16:22


Thank you for notifying us about your experience. I am extremely sorry for the distress caused to you and your mother during your visit to the Accident and Emergency department at this hospital.

I will be investigating your experiences and discussing with my team, I’m Christopher Dinsdale, A&E service manager, and if you would like to provide further details by email that would be very helpful. My email is christopherdinsdale@nhs.net. Many thanks

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