"Bureaucratic/ inefficient processes within A..."

I have never had to use the local A and E facilities myself (thank goodness) but supported a good friend who went there 5 times in the past month. The problem begins with difficulty in getting GP appointments,hence patients go to A and E.

Secondly, there are people presenting with long term and even 'minor' complaints who do not recognise that it is an Accident and Emergency facility rather as a general practice overflow. My friend was referred by her GP to see a specialist (agreed over the phone) but still had to go through the needless triage system (despite having been triaged by the GP) This took around 1 hour. There was then a 4 hour wait before seeing the specialist who had requested the attendance.

Subsequent re-visits, since the severe pain had not been controlled, necessitated the endless triage system again ,with a secondary wait of 6 hours on one occasion. The triage process is obviously designed as a box ticking exercise (patient seen within 4 hours)and does not lead to any individualised prioritisation (except if dying- I expect)The staff are so busy that they do not exhibit empathy or sympathy and even when referred to the wards, excessive waits occur (4 hours) before being seen.Discharge is also incredibly inefficient with patients waiting hours for their summaries or having to come back next day for collection.There is little evidence of 'joined up thinking' with people working in silos.I am medically qualified and was astonished to see just how difficult it is from the patients perspective. We need more access to GPs, less referrals to hospital with management within the GP surgery, a better triage system which sends some patients home due to the lack of severity of their condition and a better prioritisation where severity does exist.

Lack of accountability is also prevalent and patients are deemed to be trouble makers if they ask for more effective process.I am proud of our NHS but it really isn't working properly here- there was a queue of over 15 people trying to get into a full A and E waiting room at 8pm one evening midweek. The current repetitive system is inefficient and needlessly costly to the Trust.

I note that the CQC rating shows areas for improvement and the star rating even of this site shows a lot of dissatisfaction . I hope this is read as an objective report and that something is done . Sadly, I am not holding my breath since there is no requirement to follow up on these genuine and serious concerns.