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"No respect from some staff"

About: University Hospital Lewisham

I came into A&E for a mental health related issue. I asked if there was a separate room that i could sit in as i was on the verge of having a panic attack and they said no, so i went & stood in a corner and my panic attack got worse & i couldn't breath. No one helped me apart from 2 patients who came over to check on me. After a while I asked to be taken off the waiting list as it was making me worse & they couldn't let me go, so a nice member of staff came to talk to me (i wish i caught their name). I then saw a nurse as I was in hysterics & the nurse was very rude to me, and said 'You know there are lots of people waiting to be seen before you, but you wanted to be seen first'. I corrected the nurse and said i didn't want to be seen first, i said i wanted to be taken off the waiting list so i could go home. The nurse then proceeded to ask me questions about why i was there in A&E/why i took too many tablets in a very horrible tone of voice, it felt like an interrogation, i felt so uncomfortable....it made me feel like i was stupid coming to A&E and that I was wasting everyone's time. So this actually made me feel 10x worse, especially as i was there for mental health related issues (and an overdose as well). The funny thing is, that as soon as my husband turned up, the tone of the nurses voice changed and the nurse was much nicer. I wish i saw their name badge as i would have liked to have put down a complaint about the nurse. The doctor and the psychiatric team I saw though were lovely! It's just a shame not all staff can be more sensitive about a patients emotions. The nurses words could have really sent someone more over the edge than they already are.

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Responses

Response from University Hospital Lewisham 7 years ago
University Hospital Lewisham
Submitted on 27/04/2016 at 10:30
Published on nhs.uk on 28/04/2016 at 02:31


Thank you for your feedback we are sorry that you did not have a positive experience of our service. It is difficult to investigate concerns without any details so one of the ED matrons would be happy to talk to you further if you wish. Please contact us via the PALS department.

Sarah Carver

Matron for ED

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