Pensioner's 'horrendous' 10-hour hospital ordeal
Matt Meade • Published 17 Feb 2012 09:30
6 Comments
A ROSYTH pensioner has hit out at her "horrendous" 10-HOUR hospital ordeal in which she had a medical examination lying on an old leather couch.
Mary Wright (69) who suffers from bronchiectasis, also claimed she had:
A blood sample taken in a corridor.
An electrocardiogram (ECG) scan in a staffroom with no lock on it.
An x-ray in which she was given no medical gown.
It's the latest complaint in a background of public discontent with the recent centralisation of Fife's major health services in Kirkcaldy from the Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline.
She told the Press, "We knew there would be teething problems but this was utterly horrendous and, listening to other people, I was not alone in my experience.
"One 87-year-old patient was waiting 13 hours before he got a bed.
"He, out of six of us sitting around the same area, was from Kirkcaldy. The other five came from the West Fife area - Oakley, Kelty, Cowdenbeath, Dunfermline and Rosyth."
Mrs Wright, of Park Road, was referred to assessment unit 1 at Victoria Hospital by a doctor at Rosyth Health Centre on the afternoon of Monday 23rd January after she made an initial appointment there for a continuing chest complaint.
She arrived at the hospital by car, driven by husband Eck, at 4.30pm.
One HOUR later, at 5.30pm, a nurse took her blood pressure in a corridor.
At 7pm, two-and-a-half hours after arriving at hospital, she was given a medical examination and assessment by a doctor.
She said, "(The doctor) could not find a room, so after going along some corridors we went into a staffroom with no lock on the door where I had my examination lying on an old three-seater leather couch."
Two hours later a nurse took a blood sample in a corridor as there were still no rooms available.
Mrs Wright then had to endure a further three-hour wait until after midnight when she had an x-ray. She told the Press there were no patient gowns available.
At 1.15am a nurse gave her an ECG scan (heart scan) in an interview/staffroom before she was allowed to go home at 1.45am.
She added, "Altogether, from when we left the house 'til we got home it was 10 hours and 30 minutes.
"The department was totally disorganised chaos.
"The staff, who were run off their feet, were brilliant even when they had to use the screen and try to be discreet when the trolley passed twice to go to the morgue.
"I was lucky enough to be okay but pity help people who were really ill and most of us had extra long waits.
"On my travels through the corridors to the first staffroom I saw people in beds in the corridors who had been there overnight."
She finished, "Surely that must tell you something that Queen Margaret should never have been closed."
Mrs Wright has made an official complaint to NHS Fife and is awaiting a response.
John Wilson, chief executive of the operational division, said, "We have experienced a demanding few weeks due to the unusually high numbers of emergency admissions.
"This has not been an easy time for our staff who have worked hard to manage the workload with care and professionalism.
"I can confirm that Mrs Wright has been in contact with our patient relations department to raise her concerns.
"Our patient relations team are undertaking an investigation into these claims and will respond to Mrs Wright once this is complete.
"There is a continuous review in place which assesses the operation of the wards and is part of an ongoing process to improve the patient experience.
"We are committed to doing the best for every individual in our care and take action to rectify any areas where we fall short of the standards we set ourselves."
This article appeared in Dunfermline Press 15 Feb 12
Have your say. Post a comment on this article.
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jesstd
34 posts
Feb 17, 13:50
Report comment**John Wilson, chief executive of the operational division, said, "We have experienced a demanding few weeks due to the unusually high numbers of emergency admissions.
"This has not been an easy time for our staff who have worked hard to manage the workload with care and professionalism."**
Err... what about the patients?
Excuses, excuses.
Sack the Health Board. Their details are here:
http://www.nhsfife.org/nhs/index.cfm?fuseaction=nhs.pagegroup&p2sid=E44DBB1B-5056-8C6F-C013BB57547CE2B1&themeid=E44C37C3-5056-8C6F-C003CD63C15D8FF0&GroupOrg=270004AD-BB72-8519-4F4524B7837B36DD
Recommend?
Yes 26
No 7
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Llaura
1 post
Feb 17, 20:49
Report commentI would like to thank the staff at the Victoria Hospital for the quick and efficient care I received when I attended A & E suffering chest pains. I was seen within 5 minutes of arriving and had a heart tracing and bloods taken before going for a chest X-ray. Turns out my lung had collapsed slightly. I was asked to attend the next day so the Doctors could check my pain level and was seen within 20 minutes of arriving. I had to attend a week later for a follow up X-ray and consultation with a Doctor and was greeted by friendly staff and had my X-ray and seen the Doctor within 30 minutes in Assessment Unit 1. I have no complaints about the treatment received.
Doctors and Nurses do a brilliant job and no-one acknowledges that. All everyone does is put them down and complain.
During all 3 of these visits I also managed to park with no problems. Times attended were 5.00pm, 10.30am and 10.00am.
Recommend? Yes 18
No 18
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******
Feb 19, 17:44
Report commentThis comment has been removed by a moderator
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******
Feb 20, 01:36
Report commentThis comment has been removed by a moderator
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beaker
80 posts
Feb 20, 20:16
Report commentcould do with some lybians and their pickup trucks to transfer patients to the vic , its either die waiting, die driving, or die when you get there.
Recommend? Yes 7
No 3
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Plymcat
1 post
Feb 24, 14:25
Report commentNowhere in Mary Wright's letter does she complain about the doctors or the nurses treatment of her. Her complaint is about the conditions that they are having to work in. If the infrastucture for the staff to be able to carry out their work is not in place then this has to be a cause of concern to the public and the staff. This needs to be investigated to the full and changes made where needed.
The doctors and nurses do a wonderfull job of caring and are often taken for granted with no sign of appreciation.
To the high up yins I would say get yer finger out and do something about it ! NOW!
Recommend? Yes 7
No 0
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maclam
316 posts
Feb 27, 23:03
Report commentjust the shambles hospital staff and the public expected , sad no one listened
Recommend? Yes 0
No 0
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jennif
2 posts
Mar 1, 13:54
Report commentMy 13 year old son came off his bmx at a local skate park 2 weeks ago, he was taken to the Victoria hospital by ambulance on a spinal board . I went with him in the ambulance and his father followed in the car . When we arrived at the A&E department myself and my husband were asked to go to reception and log his arrival and we would be shouted back through once he was removed from the spinal board . After 20 mins or so in reception I approach the desk and asked if we could go back through beside him , the receptionist went away and when returned showed us to him . When we seen him he was still on the spinal board with no nurse in attendance or doctor but a bed buzzer had been placed at the side of him , after nearly two minutes of us arriving at his side he told me he was going to vomit , I pressed the buzzer for help as he was still strapped down but no one attended , he then started to vomit as he could not move he began to choke , it was obvious that no one was coming therefore I ran to the other end of the re-sus ward to the nurses desk where I found 5 nurses standing and a consultant , I asked for help and explained what was happening and one nurse started to follow me , while I had been away the situation had deteriorated which was only minutes and my husband who was still at my sons side was undoing the head straps whether or no it may have resulted in more injury being cause , he felt he was left with no option but try and stop him from choking to death when a doctor had walked through into Re-sus, my husband shouted at him to help and explained he was choking, the doctor came over and by that time I arrived with the nurse , the nurse began to suction however two people was not enough at that point two ambulance men passed with another patient in a wheelchair the doctor asked for help , the ambulance man had pointed out that he was with a patient and at that point the doctor explained( more time wasted) and he then helped they managed to get my son on his side in position on the spinal board . I have to say that it has to be the most terrifying moment of our lives.
We did approach the consultant later on that night when our son was taken for a ct scan and x-rays to ensure he would not be left unattended again while in the xray deartment because of the incident and we received the answer that he could only apologise but they were busy(I have to say sitting at a desk while my son was choking did not look busy to me ) , he was very flippant and walked away giving us no time to respond .
Our lay in a bed of sick for nearly 5 hours and was only moved to a clean bed when he was admitted to the children's ward and his wounds were cleaned there.
In total we were in A&E for six hours to which my son endured
being left unattended with a head injury and concussion
lay in sick for nearly 5 and a half hours
no attendance when buzzer was pressed which was life threatening
Doctors and nurses not knowing where equipment was to stitch his eyebrow
flippant doctor
There is a lot more that happened but these I feel are the main points !
I have put in an official complaint and can only hope that action is taken quickly or next time could have serious consequences for the patient
A word of warning to anyone who has a friend or relative admitted to the A&E department at the Victoria , if possible do not leave them on their own as until action is taken as this will happen again .
Recommend? Yes 2
No 1
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