"Well done A&E"

My wife and I are both aged 70 at 2.30 pm, on Friday 27 Feb 15, were involved in a rear end collision in a car which was stationary on a 30 mph limit road. My wife was in the rear offside seat and I was in the front nearside seat. my wife complained of neck and back pain. The paramedics put a neck brace on her and managed to get her out of the car on to a trolley and took her to A&E. Unfortunately she had to wait on the trolley in a corridor for 2 hours before being assessed by a Doctor. After assessment my wife was sent for X-rays and then after a review it was decided to send her for a CT scan. The Doctor confirmed there was no damage to the spine or spinal cord and removed the neck and head brace. After a thorough check she was discharged. All of the Staff on duty that day are to be congratulated for the dedicated and professional care they provided for my wife. I cannot praise them all enough for the way they looked after us both whilst working in such a very busy and clearly stressful Department. Nothing was too much trouble. Please pass on our sincere thanks to all concerned - Paramedics, Doctors, Nursing Staff, Admin Staff, Domestic Staff and not forgetting the Tea Lady!! Well done NHS Royal Stoke! My only complaint is about the neck brace which was used. It is more a comment about the design than a complaint. At the back of the brace there is a plastic button which holds the hard plastic of the neck brace to a softer material. This was digging in to my wife's skin at the base of her skull. As she was in the brace for so long she was in some discomfort. Staff did try to alleviate the discomfort with gauze pads but after a while they had no effect. Perhaps the design could be changed?