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Care Opinion

seating A&E manchester

Posted By VivienD

"seating A&E manchester"

About: Manchester Royal Infirmary / Accident and emergency

(as the patient),

waiting in A & E was a very uncomfy experience, the seats in A & E are very uncomfortable, they are made of steel with no cushioning, yet there there are comfy seats in the jobcentre and even comfier seats in manchesters city centre library!

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Responses

Response from Patient Experience Lead, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust 8 years ago
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 31/12/2015 at 12:49
Published on Care Opinion at 13:43

Thank you for your comments and please accept our apologies for your experience of the waiting area and specifically the seating. The waiting area has to cater for large volumes of patients and relatives with a variety of conditions. As such this area needs to be robust and meet infection control requirements to enable the furniture to be cleaned regularly. Often soft furnishings such as cushioning degrade as a result of high volume use and as a result of decontamination procedures; therefore they are unsuitable for use in the waiting room. However your feedback has been noted and will be considered in future reviews of this area.

Update posted by VivienD (the patient)

Thank you for your apology and your explanation of the need for robust seating that does not degrade. I still don't think it's fair that patients in a&e who are feeling ill or in pain have to sit on such uncomfortable seating.

The seating in my dental practice in Manchester is very comfy, but when you are attending a dentist you don't have to wait long and you are usually feeling well, unless you have toothache. If the seating in Manchester a&e was like my dental practice, patients would have a very comfortable experience. I don't know how long that type of seating would take to degrade though.

I wonder if the seating is made of steel in all a&e department's in England?

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