"Oxford Urgent Care"

We visited the Bicester first aid unit recently where we were seen very quickly by some excellent staff. The nurse was very thorough and very helpful. She referred my daughter for an X-Ray at Witney minor injuries unit as Bicester don't have X-Ray facilities which is a shame for such a new hospital.

The next day we went to Witney minor injuries unit. On arrival at 2pm, I spoke to the receptionist and showed them the referral form. They advised me that the radiographer was at lunch but that in about 10 minutes they would put some numbered cards out and that we were to take one. After about 10 minutes, the receptionist placed the cards in the slot with a note saying that the radiographer was at lunch and would return at 3: 20. As instructed previously, I took card number 1. A little while later I saw the receptionist talking to a lady who had been there since 11am who had card number 12 and was worried that they had forgotten about her. I offered to give her card 1 and to take card 2. The receptionist replied rudely that I shouldn't have taken a card yet and tried to say that was obvious from the sign they had put out. I explained to the receptionist that it didn't say that we couldn't take a card in advance of the radiographer returning but they were, again, very rude.

After several people had been X-Rayed before my daughter (referrals from minor injuries), I asked the radiographer how long she expected the wait to be and she was very helpful and explained that I hadn't needed to take a card (despite the instruction from the receptionist) as my daughter had been referred but she also said my daughter would be seen very soon.

After my daughter had had her X-Ray and we had been waiting for a while for a review, I queried with the receptionist which queue we were in now and the clinical lead overheard. Again, they were very helpful and said she was just reviewing the X-Ray and would see her very shortly. They re-itterated the point that we hadn't needed to take a card and when I explained that I had shown the receptionist the letter and they had told me to take a card, they were again very rude and said that they didn't tell me to take a card and said "you just took one".

When we saw the clinical lead and she explained to myself and my daughter that she had a fracture and went through the next steps she was very kind and also very apologetic about the way we were treated and the wait we had experienced.

We finally left the hospital 4 hours and 20 minutes after we arrived.

I realise that the staff are under a great deal of pressure and that long waits can't always be avoided but I don't think that this is any excuse to be rude and unfortunately, this one member of staff let down an otherwise great team!