"a short stay for a long term problem"

Arriving at the ED in the middle of the day, I was shocked to receive such a delay in medical attention.

4 attempts to cannulate me, meant I fell to the bottom of the list and when I was eventually transferred to the majors waiting area, others who arrived in the reception waiting after I went in for triage got treatment and sent home ahead of me.

I had a CT and was sent back to the waiting area.

After speaking to the nurse and asking for some urgently needed pain relief, a doctor eventually came and spoke to me and apologised profusely, as it was apparent after 3 hours it still hadn't been reported (he did tell me he had raised an IR). I asked for a trolley, after having been sat in a cold waiting area on the worlds most uncomfortable chairs for 8 hours and fortunately he found me one.

Fortunately, at this point, pain relief was stepped up and I was soon moved to a ward (although the clerking Dr, in front of my mother, attempted to give a new diagnosis, despite having presented with flare ups of my LTC, with the same symptoms, many times).

Thankfully, the team on MAU attentively listened the following morning and were very respectful of my knowledge and how I've been managed in the past, including the correct drugs and need for an LP.

I want to say thank you to the medical team on MAU and the empathy they showed of my frustration of having to resort to MMH for the management of symptoms and especially to the poor junior Dr who tried to do my LP, which isn't easy due to previous surgery, and the registrar who understood, that although I've had many LPs in the past I was frightened and in a lot of pain during the procedure.

But please, there is still so much more that needs to be sorted with the ED - I know the build is far from finished, but if you are going to leave patients, you intend to admit, in the majors waiting area, do so with proper monitoring, appropriate medical mgt including pain relief and for goodness sake, some blankets, if they are going to have sit next to the ambulance entrance - some new, more comfortable chairs also wouldn't go amiss, I dare any of you to be comfortable on them for 8 hours!