"Emergency Department"

I feel very concerned. I am writing to you, as my experience in the ED department has happened before. On all occasions I have been sent to the emergency department, I have brought with me a letter from my local GP, wanting me to be admitted to Hospital. My most recent visit was fairly typical of my previous experiences. 

I arrived in the evening, went through the ritual of giving the nurse my details, gave them my doctor's referral and sat down. About 20 minutes later, a nurse took some blood, then I was told to wait in the waiting room.

So I waited and waited and waited, almost 4 hours later I asked the nurse if they could give me an indication as to how much longer I will be waiting. They told me at least another two hours, but wouldn’t guarantee it, as Ambulances were still coming in. They did say if I wanted to, I could go home, which I did, as I believe it would have been past midnight before I saw anyone (if I was lucky).

It is extremely hard for someone who obviously is not well, sitting in those uncomfortable chairs for hours on end. I know ED is a very busy department, everyone is happy to wait for a time, but the amount of time I had to wait, and it has happened every single time unless I was brought in by Ambulance. In my opinion, it is just not good enough.

It is obvious the whole system needs overhauling. The extremely long hours of waiting to be seen, in my opinion, is just not good enough.

Where does a patient’s priority lie when they have a GP wanting their patient to be admitted... How long should a chronically ill patient wait? 

This seems to be an ongoing problem, that feel is definitely not improving... I for one have had enough and would like to see major improvements. Taking a letter or referral from your GP is a waste of time... it seems to make no difference whatsoever...

On one previous experience, they lost it, otherwise, it seems to be ignored.