Share review of Queen Alexandra Hospital

Queen Alexandra Hospital 2023-12-01 Person 1 5 0

I was unfortunate to have had to attend CAU out of hours via 111, a GP appt would have been a better use of resource, quicker and kinder to my child. However, my points here are regardless of correct location the environment, staffing levels and general kindness were lacking throughout our 7 hour visit on the the night of the 30th of October. Having arrived at 7 pm we were not seen until 11pm, during which time our child had been in the department for over 4 hours. No food or drink was offered to him, toast would have sufficed, the snack box was empty and the ward clerk on reception of CAU was rude, disinterested and just generally made comments about having a headache due to the noise of the children. She did not look up and greet any parent that came to the desk and in my observation would benefit from some customer service training and support. Our child was triaged quickly but we were told he would need to see a Doctor, no timescales were given and not one update was given at any time during the visit. I asked 3 times after 11pm how much longer we would need to wait as he was hungry, in need of pain relief and was very tired. I was made to feel like I was being difficult but a junior doctor kindly wrote up some calpol and it was promptly given. The general environment was dirty, spilt water/juice on floor from children and when toys were put away by the staff they were not wiped down or cleaned depsite the varying diagnosis within the wait area. There was a social care case that everyone heard about as it was not discussed in a private area which was I am sure embarrassing for the parents. A child had explosive diarrhoea and a student just offered a dry tissue for the parent to mop up and throughout my time in that department the bay was not thoroughly cleaned at all. I did stop a Dr using it as there was a sign saying infectious do not use but they ignored it. One thing I will say is that when our child was seen finally by a Dr it was a sensitive thorough and appropriate assessment. he was given antibiotics and whilst we had to wait another hour to receive them we arrived home at 1.40 am. Key messages are cleanliness, compassion and basic care for children and families in the department, along with clear communication of time delays and regular updates.

Key messages are cleanliness, compassion and basic care for children and families in the department, along with clear communication of time delays and regular updates.