"Quality of care in A&E"

What I liked

Quality of care in A&E

What could be improved

Time for first discussion with nurse. Info on how long the wait would be.

Anything else?

Letter sent to Chief Exec....

I used A&E Maidstone on Thursday 25 March at about 7pm after I stupidly twisted my ankle at work. I had heard a tear/crunch and my foot hurt a lot so I figured I should check if it was sprained/broken. My experience was on the whole excellent and I wanted to thank and congratulate you.

• No problem parking despite this being peak visiting period I imagine

• I was checked-in within 1 minute of arrival by a very efficient and smart receptionist- who identified me from name, dob and postcode

• The receptionist said I’d be seen within 20 mins by a nurse

• A whiteboard said I might have to wait up to 3 hours

• The waiting room was 80% full – lots of screaming babies

• I wasn’t seen for at least 45 mins

• When I was seen the nurse looked at my foot and referred me round the corner to x-ray (30 metres away)

• I was seen within 5 mins in x-ray

• The x-ray was done within 5 mins

• As I walked back from x-ray to the waiting room the nurse called me into the consulting room again and we looked there and then at my x-rays on the PC

• We established together that there was nothing broken and they said that the radiologist would look at the x-rays and be in contact within a week (bit long?) if there was an issue.

• The nurse advised me of the care I needed to take (2 days rest, ice for 10 mins every 2 hrs, and ibuprofen)

• The nurse then stunned me by booking a physio session for me in 2 weeks time. Wow!!

• All areas were clean; xray was super clean!

So – all in all FANTASTIC.

The one area for improvement could be the wait management. I’m sure you’ve thought of this, but why not give each patient a ticket and show their position in the queue on a screen? I’m sure people will appreciate that they may go down the queue as well as up if more urgent cases come in – the frustrating part is just not knowing – especially when the injury is potentially minimal.

So – please pass my thanks on to you’re A&E team – I’m proud and reassured to have them looking after my family and me.