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Care Opinion

Waste of Time

Story from nhs.uk

"Waste of Time"

About: Peterborough City Hospital

What could be improved

I attended A & E reluctantly at 11.20pm, as I sustained a bad laceration to the joint of my right thumb, which was deep and gaping apart, so we felt needed suturing. We were kept waiting for well over 2 hours, when the department was not particularly busy, and when I was finally seen, the doctor was flippant about the injury, said it may need stitches but they would steri-strip it first and asked me for my tetanus status. When I indicated that I did not know what my status was, he said I would be given a tetanus shot and antibiotics etc. When the nurse came in, she did not clean the wound adequately and just steri-stripped it, despite the fact that it was gaping. I was not given a tetanus shot or antibiotics. The steri-strips have now fallen off and I am left with a gaping wound in my thumb, which I have had to buy dressings for and dress myself. I won't ever waste my time going to A & E again.

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Responses

Response from Lesley Crosby, Deputy Chief Nurse, North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust 11 years ago
We have made a change
Lesley Crosby
Deputy Chief Nurse,
North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 14/11/2012 at 11:34
Published on Care Opinion at 13:13

I am so sorry that you had a bad experience when you attended our Accident and Emergency Department.

I am sure that you can appreciate that on occasions patients do have to wait to be seen as staff have to treat patients according to the severity of their presenting complaint. This does mean that that other patients maybe seen before you and also on occasion’s patients may experience a wait as the department can get very busy. The waiting room is also just one part of the Emergency Department and all patients brought in by ambulance enter through a different entrance hence you may of been left with the impression that the department was not busy when in fact it may of been dealing with multiple ambulance cases. This however should have been communicated to you and I would like to apologise if this was not the case.

I am keen, however, that we learn from your experience and therefore have passed your comments on to the Lead Nurse for the Emergency Department so that she can discuss the points you have raised with the staff especially around informing patients of waiting times.

Once again I am sorry that you were dissatisfied with your care and treatment and I hope that your thumb is now healing well.

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