"Warrington General and the National Service Framework"

On Friday last (4.7.08) my doctor sent me to A and E at Warrington General because she thought I needed my heart checked. I have a history of heart problems, and I've had a stroke about two months ago.

I arrived at A and E at about 17.00hrs and after waiting for some considerable time I was seen by a nurse who carried out an ECG. He said he had discovered a problem and I should stay in at least overnight, and told me I would soon be seeing a doctor. They put me in a bed in the A and E department and I waited. After a couple of hours I was given a bed in the admissions ward. I still didn't see a doctor until about 05.00hrs. She couldn't find anything, but told me I would be seen by the registrar at some time between 09.00 and 11.00hrs. I was then transferred to A1 ward where I waited until 12.30hrs. The registrar said, 'come on - I can.t hang around, look at all these patients I have to see' and showed me a long list of people he had to see. I told him that he must listen to me as it was my illness, and some of the things I had to say may be of relevance. He agreed to listen to what I had to say and admitted they were in fact relevant.

In the next bed to me was someone with mental health problems, who was constantly trying to get out of his bed and run round the ward, bumping into my bed. The nurses called security who manhandled the poor lad very roughly and told him to stay in his bed. I am not complaining about him - it obviously wasn't his fault, just that he should have been treated somewhere else. I'm 71 years old and I spent a whole night without sleep - the person across the way from me had an extremely loud voice, which also prevented sleep. I complained several times to the nurses about my treatment and they said 'It's the same for everybody, you know, we're very busy' , which did not console me one iota.

To sum up - I don't think a man of 71 should be kept a whole night without sleep, worrying about what's wrong with him and being made to feel he was in the way. The nurses generally were pleasant and the registrar was obviously overworked, but this was not my fault. I have been in this hospital before, and found the big problem to be understaffing, which I reported to PALS, with little result, obviously.