"Staff helpful but the wait was unacceptable."

What I liked

Staff were helpful and facilities (waiting area, toys etc) for children while waiting were good.

Anything else?

We arrived at A&E with a 6 year old who have badly cut their knee. We had an initial assessment after about 15 minutes and then were left waiting for over 4 hours which we find with a 6 year old is unacceptable. This was no fault of the staff on duty but with staffing levels. The injury did not require the attention of a doctor but was serious enough to require some professional medical attention. A few months ago we would have taken her to the local minor injury clinic but this was closed recently which means that the Ipswich A&E department now has to deal with these cases as well as the Emergencies. Our wait at the hospital brought to our attention that the closing of the minor injury clinic has put more pressure on the staff and facilities at the hospital and it was mentioned by staff that the department had got busier in the last few months which ties in with the clinic closing. Also with the increasing number of homes being built in the area this pressure is only going to grow with more people coming into the area and this needs to be looked at and plans need to be put in place now so that staffing and facilities are improved to deal with this increase in population.