"Care for the staff as well please!"

My 90 year old father has been seen in A&E today, following a fall while he was staying with me. The department was clean and all the staff, including nurses, paramedics, and the doctor treated him with unfailing politeness & care. He is very deaf, and they were careful to make sure that he understood everything that was said.

However, my concern is that while we were waiting in the cubicle, a nurse was being spoken to about an incident involving another patient. There is to be some sort of enquiry and she was involved in the treatment of the patient.

I feel it was completely inappropriate for a member of staff to be talked to about a confidential and sensitive matter, in an area where there was no privacy. This shows complete lack of respect for them, and could have caused distress to other patients, as well as breaching the confidentiality of the patient concerned. Enough information was given that, should I wish to, I could look up the story in the press and identify her.

So a big thankyou to the staff of the A&E, and a grave concern that their managers do not treat them with the respect they are expected to show to patients. They deserve a lot better.