"The staff at St James' A&E were lovely, but they didn't tell me what was going on!"

I decided to go to A&E at St James' after I noticed a rash spreading all over my legs. It was around 6: 30pm and I thought it'd be empty, they'd just tell me what was wrong and maybe give me a cream for it.

After I'd checked in I was left waiting around half an hour, which annoyed me as I was the only person in the waiting room and I saw nurses wandering around and having a break in the meantime.

I was called into a little room where a nurse introduced herself and was very caring and helpful. She checked me over and asked my health background, then called in another doctor. They talked amongst themselves, then suddenly I was in a hospital gown and a medical bracelet and they were admitting me to a ward. I was very scared (as I had come alone, and deathly scared of hospitals and illnesses) and she took me to a little cubicle where she told me to lie down and relax. A male nurse came in and checked me over, who was very friendly and assured me I was okay and just to relax. He said my heart rate was elevated and, after checking my legs, he said he'd need some senior doctors to look at it and they may need to keep me overnight.

At this point I was crying and emotional, but one of the senior doctors made me laugh and feel safe and told me I was going to be fine. They were both very thorough, making me list any new foods, creams or washing fabrics I'd used in the past few days. They checked my symptoms and ruled out any serious illnesses (which helped, as I was very scared I had meningitis) and they were extremely helpful. Even when the ward was filling up, they still made sure every question I had was answered. When they'd given me the all-clear, they gave me a dermatologist to contact, advice on what to do and said they would send over my notes to my GP and not to hesitate returning if anything got worse. The male nurse escorted me to the door and the first female nurse I'd seen came to check I was okay.

Overall I was extremely happy with my experience. The staff were wonderful at making me feel calm, at home and treated me as an individual, not just prodding and testing me to get me out of there quick as possible.

The only complaints I have would be the wait, as even when nobody was there, they kept me waiting over half an hour, and the fact that they didn't tell me what was happening, eg that they were admitting me or taking me to a ward. There was no fault in the staff at all, they were all very helpful and I would recommend St James' A&E to anyone, just not on a friday or saturday night!