"ED experience"

A few weeks ago I had to call an ambulance to take my parent to hospital as they were very short of breath and had become delirious. I felt the SJA crew were prompt and professional and quickly transported my parent to hospital.

By the time we arrived at the hospital my parent did look much better.They were taken straight into the department and there was one other patient in the department. They were triaged promptly and attached to a monitor but that's about where the assessment and treatment stopped. My parent was referred to ETS as no onsite doctor was on duty. We waited approximately an hour before any further tests were done despite their heart rate being high and me telling the nurse the last time this happened my parent had a heart attack.

Eventually an ECG was done and the nurse clearly stated it was fine which was not in fact the case as ETS requested blood tests to confirm a heart attack, which they did. All it seemed the nurse was concerned about was having their morning coffee for their  birthday that recently happened. We were reminded of this several times while in ED.

When a heart attack was confirmed as well as sepsis and respiratory failure it was panic stations to get my parent transferred to another hospital. Which is not what we initially wanted as my parent is palliative. When I spoke with the ETS doctor they advised that my parent may not recover from this and to prepare for the worst. We discussed the possibility of transfer to the other hospital and the benefits. However I was told by the nurse that Plantagenet hospital don't admit patients and we would need to go to the other hospital regardless. I know this is not true and I understand that patients can be admitted under ETS/ITS. The issue I had was not only the fact of the nurses lack of knowledge but the fact they were seemingly arguing with me and telling me I'm wrong. ETS even agreed with me.

I feel the nurse needs to upskill in communicating effectively with the public as I felt their attitude was disgusting. I wont get into the lack of hand hygiene I saw that occurred. From what I saw not a pair of gloves in sight when taking bloods or attempting insert cannula or use of hand washing or gel. Im thankful my parent didnt get an infection secondary to this. 

So the ETS doctor arranged transfer to the other hospital. The nurse returned and said the hospital could make an exception and my parent could be admitted under PALCATs (ETS palliative care team). What a way to make us feel special! Needless to say we didn't stay where we clearly weren't wanted. Thankfully we did go to the other hospital and my parent has recovered. We couldn't fault the other hospital they were fabulous. I felt listened to and supported in a time of stress.

The only reason we attended Plantagenet hospital is because the ambulance goes to the closest hospital. If I could have got my parent in the car myself I would have bypassed Plantagenet and gone straight to another hospital.