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Written by a patient
27th January 2016


The A&E unit at the Northern General is a disgrace to the NHS. I'm not referring to the doctors and nurses who are superb, but to the facilities and organization. Apart from the long waiting times [I had to wait for a total of 8h for an assessment of chest pain, which is hardly world class health care], a variety of horrors are encountered by any patient reporting there: - although there are 3 reception desks, only one is visible when you enter, so everyone queues there unaware that there are 2 other adjacent reception desks - the receptionists frequently do not use the microphone system, meaning that patients cannot easily hear what the receptionist behind the glass window is saying, and patients themselves have to shout so that the whole waiting room can hear what is said - the waiting area is far too small with inadequate number of seats crammed together, and patients often left standing - many patients are obviously very ill, some even being sick, but instead of there being a disposal unit for sick bowls, paper towels, etc they have to be left under chairs - even the regular waste bins are crammed with old rubbish and overflowing - rather than having a loudspeaker system and/or display board to call patients when it is their turn, patients are summoned by a nurse calling out their name, which is often inaudible especially if you are in distress, hard of hearing, in the toilet, at the back, or have gone outside for a breath of air during the long wait - if you miss your call you go to the bottom of the waiting list meaining hours more waiting - there are no refreshments or food available, except for a cold drinks machine which cannot be used with cash [just card] - there is not even a water dispenser - there are no magazines, newspapers, books, or childrens toys so unless you come prepared you have nothing to help you through the long hours - the unit is a rabbit warren with very poor signage. I was told to follow a red line but it ended in a locked door - in the consulting rooms you have to lie on a couch which is not covered with a disposable sheet and which looks, and probably is, stained and dirty, and the couches do not seem to get cleaned/disinfected between patients - the signage for A&E on the approach roads is poor, and if you go in at the wrong entrance you potentially have a long journey around the whole Northern General site to get to A&E In short this facility is third world standard, which is probably doing a diservice to third world countries

Recommend
Dignity/Respect
Involvement
Information
Cleanliness
Staff