The family of a 70-year-old with learning difficulties say hospital trust managers should be held to account for their decisions on staffing levels and people should consider if A&E is the right place for them after spending around eight hours in QEQM Hospital A&E when the pensioner damaged her back in a fall.
Jennifer, who is not being fully identified due to vulnerability, lives in a warden assisted flat and is autistic, ADHD, diabetic and has other health complications.
On May 28 at 11.30am Jennifer fell backwards, hitting her head and back.
Her sister-in-law says in all it was 14 hours before Jennifer was seen and able to return home and she believes a culmination of under-staffing and people using A&E when they should instead use other services, are to blame.
Busy services
She said: “My husband and my mother started driving her to Estuary View to be checked over. On the Thanet Way, she became drowsy, couldn’t stay awake, and stated she was having pain breathing.
“They pulled into the Sainsbury’s car park and dialled 999. The ambulance service assessed her and said an ambulance would come but would be up to two hours.
“About 30 minutes later, the ambulance service rang back, did another assessment and told them to drive to Estuary View. They would send all their notes to them. They arrived at Estuary View and then waited approximately 90 minutes.
“They were told, after some questions and examination, that one vertebrae in her back was very painful to the touch and that she would need to go to QEQM for a scan on the back of her skull and her spine. This was because she’d fallen backwards and banged her back and head.
“Estuary View was absolutely rammed as well and advised waiting time there was 150 minutes. As it was by then several hours since Jenny had eaten, they quickly picked up some food on the way and went to A&E. They arrived around 4.45pm.
“They finally left there around 1.30am. Over 14 hours since her fall and subsequent health issues.
“We don’t want to slate staff. They are trying to cope in horrendous situations, whether in A&E or on other wards. The public really need to think what they are doing when choosing to attend A&E.
“Obviously, there’s no privacy when checking in, plus people were chatting to my husband and telling him why they were there and it was obvious that not all there came under the heading ‘accident’ or ‘emergency.’
“At about 10.20pm, an announcement was made that they were declaring an emergency situation and everybody should either see a medic or go home.
“We’ve experienced this before when using the 111 service. They advised attending when it was really a GP matter. I think that’s also where the system is falling down.”
The family have also questioned why the new build area at A&E has no ‘quiet’ area for those who may have conditions, such as autism, that mean they become overwhelmed.
The sister-in-law said: “She was quite quickly overwhelmed because of all the people and noise in the waiting room. Apart from her Autism and ADHD, she lives alone. Quietly. She was anxious, distressed. She always needs one of us accompanying her to any medical appointment to make sure she gives and receives correct information to medics.
“Often, her anxiety causes her to not process what is said to her correctly and she agrees to things that are not correct or which she could not achieve.
“It is just astounding that in a new build medical setting, there is no separate quieter area for people with eg Autism, ADHD, learning difficulties, who could be predicted to not cope well in a busy, noisy, chaotic setting surrounded by literally hundreds of people. Even supermarkets are doing quiet hours with subdued lighting and no background music! You’d think a medical setting would be prepared.”
She added that when the emergency situation was called at the hospital, it was said there were only nine doctors on duty and most were in training.
She said: “Who is deciding at QEQM that, only nine doctors, most of them in training, should be on duty when over 200 people were there at the same time for help?
“Obviously that’s not going to work, due to volume but also, presumably, trainee doctors need some amount of supervision and support.
“If GP appointment provision were greater, on call GP provision more comprehensive, maybe more people would be treated where they need to be, in a GP practice or at home if out of hours, by on call GPs, rather than where they should not be, in A&E.
“Our hospital staff need our support in order for them to do their job safely and accurately.”
Discharge sheet
Jennifer was X-rayed and it was established that there had not been a spinal fracture but when she left QEQM she was handed discharge papers for another patient.
Her sister-in-law said: “The discharge sheet is for a 20 year old woman and has all her medical info on it. Confidentiality has been broken and who has Jenny’s sheet?
“I feel staff need our support and sympathy and pressure needs putting on management who decide on staffing levels.”
‘High demand’
An East Kent Hospitals Trust spokesperson said: “‘We are sorry that (Jennifer) had this experience when visiting our hospital.
“While an increasing number of patients are being seen, treated and admitted or discharged within four hours, our Emergency Departments remain very busy, and some patients are waiting far longer than we would like.
“We would encourage (Jennifer) and her family to contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) team so that we can investigate this matter fully and respond directly to their concerns and feedback.”
The Trust says that during periods of exceptionally high demand, clinical teams may remind patients who do not need emergency treatment that they may be seen more quickly and appropriately by other NHS services. This ensures staff can prioritise those in most urgent need.
The spokesperson added that the family should contact PALS so the discharge documents issue can be followed up appropriately.
NHS data
The most recent data available for A&E attendance is for April and shows East Kent Hospitals (QEQM Margate and William Harvey Ashford) has a total of 24,686 attendees in the month. This figure was also inclusive of minor injuries units.
Of those, 18,803 were admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours with 5,883 waiting more than four hours and of those 1256 waiting 12 hours or more.
I find the sense of entitlement in the article astounding, the nhs and country as a whole just don’t have the funding to provide a seperate area that sits empty until someone with additional needs arrives at a@e, lots of mays and coulds , unfortunately there are times when you just have to joing the queue.
Yes there are lots of people who use a&e as its a convenience for them to do so, last time i was there it was eye opening to see what goes on and how people behave.
Had Jennifer been assessed as needing immediate attention she’d have got , but as it was there were others deemed to be in greater neeed and quite rightly they were seen first.
Lack of education and empathy.
Not at all, lots of people seeking medical assistance in one place, those in greatest need seen first. If you want better, dig deep and pay for it. Why would one persons perceived suffering be more important than anothers suffering ? All have attended a@e seeking treatment, the professionals will decide who gets treated first.
They should be glad they don’t live in rural wales, be lucky to get an ambulance inside 8 hours.
We get it, you’re ableist to those with neurodevelopmental disabilities.
No, i treat anyone in need of medical assistance in a hospital as in need of assistance , the order they are treated being determined by suitably trained staff. Anyone in great distress for whatever reasons would be nearer the front of the queue.
It would be an absurd waste of money and nhs resources to have additional facilities standing by just in case it was felt someone might benefit from said facility.
If you want a Swedish type of health service pay Swedish taxes,if not accept that our NHS is not perfect and needs adequate funding.
Yes, some people could use other services, but perhaps they too have a Jennifer.Agreed,primary care needs better funding, but do you want to pay more tax?I think Peace makes plenty has a point and that possibly Jennifer might have been better off in another setting, as it was, did she recover and us she now feeling better?
It appears those and their darling family/friends ( who come for entertainment ) , often frequent attendees , who waste time and resources , demand immediate attention ,who shout and shout , swear , spit, scream , assault staff , throw things , often out their numbskull heads on lifestyle drugs are entitled , not a 70 year old woman with leaning and medical disabilities , with a sister-in-law trying to advocate for her . The venerable are overlooked and told to suck it up . Hospital management hides , remaining unaccountable for their decisions and are paid super bucks. Yes a quiet area may be pipe dream however consideration of a persons dignity and needs by a concerned caring relative is not thought to be entitled .Breaching patient confidentially is appalling.
And yes I would pay more tax .
I would pay more tax, too.
I’m a senior citizen, and recently I had a medical crisis. I can’t fault the treatment I received from the NHS.
It is the case that people abuse A&E, throwing a huge burden on the staff.
With limited resources, medics have to prioritise. So life threatening conditions come before life changing injuries, and they come before painful or uncomfortable conditions, etc.
That’s handy , because you and everyone else will all be paying more tax in the near future, of course we’ll see little tangible benefit for doing so.
Where did all that money went. The late sir Captain Tom Moore Raised? To make a difference? Nothing has changed.
His daughter took care of it-allegedly.
His daughter embezzled it.
Maybe if GP’s would actually see people they wouldn’t have to use A&E.
Unfortunately some people think A&E stands for anything and everything, so that’s why it gets so busy because they can’t always be bothered to use other services, ie pharmacies etc
Pharmacies, like the A&E are already overstretched & also aren’t skilled & most don’t have the rooms for privacy in examining people-which is the main problem.
GP’s have refused to see people for over 5 years now-having been paid a king’s ransom to stick jabs in people & then irrationally saying they are unsafe to see them after-despite saying they would.
If doctors actually did their jobs, rather than remote working-looking at people over webcams, which is a recipe for disaster-then the hospitals wouldnt be so clogged up. Failing that then we need walk in centres. Yes, you will always get some time wasters-but the majority are only at the hospital because their surgeries have failed them for years now-either not seeing people, or they have to wait weeks or months.
Your comment about GPS is conspiracist misinformation.
Not at all-even celebrity tv presenters moan that they can’t get appointments & haven’t been able to for five years now. Not that it would probably make much difference with the NHS waiting lists for treatment.
Well that’s settled it then. If a “celebrity TV presenter” says something it must be true.
That said, I do find it puzzling that some GP practices have long-standing and serious problems when others are able to provide an excellent service.